Hednesford Town 1 Guiseley 1

TEN-man Guiseley were denied an unlikely victory in heart-breaking fashion as Hednesford Town netted a stoppage-time equaliser.

The Lions had been a man down for most of the second half after centre back Danny Ellis was dismissed in controversial circumstances. Ellis was sent off for preventing a goal-scoring opportunity but he felt he had been impeded first.

The hard-earned point was enough to keep Guiseley in the top five in Vanarama Conference North but manager Mark Bower was far from happy.

The boss said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the performance, the attitude and the effort but I felt we were on the end of some pretty poor refereeing decisions – not just the big call. I thought there were some poor decisions throughout, and it’s difficult to take.”

The goalless first half began quite evenly but the Lions started creating chances, with Josh Wilson heading wide from a Ryan Toulson free-kick and Wilson having a free-kick deflected for a corner, while Gavin Rothery and Wayne Brooksby both went close with shots.

Wilson was sacrificed after the red card as Bower sent Andy Holdsworth on to strengthen the Lions’ defence.

Adam Boyes fired them into a 74th-minute lead but Hednesford substitute Marvin Robinson got their dramatic late equaliser following a set-piece.

Bower added: “We got into the game after getting to grips with the diamond formation they were playing. I think we had the best two chances of the first half and were disappointed not to have been in front at half-time.

“The decision to send Dan off at the start of the second half turned the game. I saw it and thought he was going to give the first foul on Dan. Then I realised he had given the foul to them and knew he we going to deem that he was last man and that would bring out the red card.

“We went to one of the teams that a lot of people tipped to be top five at the end of the season and we were the better team with ten men for a lot of the game. We were just bitterly disappointed not to have come away with all three points. The lads deserved that.”