Guiseley 4 Harrogate Town 2

GUISELEY withstood a late fightback by Harrogate Town in a pulsating derby to bank the three points that keeps their promotion tilt firmly on track.

The Lions strengthened their third place in the Vanarama Conference North on a day when leaders AFC Fylde earned a narrow 2-1 victory at second-place Barrow.

The top three remain in the same order but Guiseley are now just one point behind Barrow, four points off the summit.

Harrogate had hosted Mark Bower’s Lions in the reverse fixture on Boxing Day and they had to settle for a point apiece after a drab goalless draw. At a wet and windy Nethermoor today, there was no threat of a repeat of that damp squib.

The home side started in positive fashion and created early chances. The game was only ten minutes old when they broke the deadlock and before it was 20 minutes old they had a commanding two-goal lead.

Jake Lawlor stroked them into the lead from close range before Oli Johnson doubled their advantage with a superb strike after latching on to a through ball from Danny Lowe.

The Lions were forced into a reshuffle soon after as Wayne Brooksby picked up a hamstring injury, Nicky Boshell coming off the bench to replace him.

The visitors had the ball in Steve Drench’s net but Paul Clayton’s effort was ruled out for offside.

Danny Boshell should have extended Guiseley’s lead even further just before Town’s chalked-off goal and Alex Johnson forced visiting keeper Peter Crook into a save before the break.

After scoring ten minutes into the first half, the home side needed 11 minutes after the interval before adding their third, Nicky Boshell converting Andy Holdsworth’s 56th-minute cross with an excellent header.

The younger of the Boshell brothers was denied a second by the crossbar after his free-kick from the edge of the area cannoned back off the frame of the goal. But Gavin Rothery did add a fourth for the Lions when he headed in after good build-up play.

Simon Weaver had made changes to try to get his side back into the game and they paid off with a quickfire double to halve the deficit.

Substitute Jake Speight, the former Farsley and Bradford City man, headed in Harrogate’s first, before fellow sub Joan Thewlis netted with a good strike.

The two goals gave Town hope and they probed and pressed. A later effort hit the bar and they also had the Guiseley defence scrambling to clear another attempt off the line.

Bower was delighted with the win. He said: “It was thoroughly enjoyable for 65 to 70 minutes but probably with us dominating at that stage we took our foot off the gas.

“They had nothing to lose at that point and put us under a bit of pressure, we conceded a couple of scrappy goals and it makes you worry a touch. But looking at the performance as a whole, we were superb.

“We seemed to have an extra dimension on the pitch – options on the counter-attack and in midfield. I thought AJ (Alex Johnson) was superb coming back into the team and the goals we scored were terrific.

“That is what we want to put on for the fans and it’s pleasing and breeds confidence, so the lads enjoyed really it.”