Solihull Moors 3 Guiseley 1

GUISELEY'S grip on their Vanarama National League status was loosened even further with a 3-1 defeat at Solihull Moors and anything but a win against Barrow at Nethermoor on Tuesday will confirm their relegation.

The Lions conceded two unfortunate early goals and couldn’t find a way back into the game.

They are now 15 points from safety with 15 points to play for and also have a vastly inferior goal difference to Woking, who are just above the current safety line and have two games remaining.

It all began to unravel for Guiseley in the sixth minute when a long throw-in for the home side ended with Ben Frempah heading the ball past his own keeper Joe Green.

It was an inadvertent action but it crushed the spirits of a desperate Guiseley side. It got worse as the lead was doubled in the 19th minute when Jamey Osborne sent in a shot that took a huge deflection and looped over the stranded Green.

There was brief hope for the Lions when Dayle Southwell was fouled inside the area by George Carline.

The referee had no doubt about awarding the penalty and Southwell picked himself up to spot the ball, before sending Moors’ keeper Max O’Leary the wrong way with his penalty strike.

Solihull put the gloss on their victory on the hour mark when Fiacre Kelleher’s glancing header led to Green being beaten for a third time.

Caretaker manager Sean St Ledger is still not throwing in the towel but he knows that Guiseley’s stay in England’s fifth division is all but over.

Following the defeat he said: “I think the timings of the goals were the thing that killed us the most.

“We hadn’t started well in our last game and I asked for us to start better here and I think we did that.

"Then we gave a rubbish goal away from a long throw-in which is disappointing and then obviously when you’re bottom of the table, confidence almost gets sucked out of you straight away.

“We came in at half-time 2-0 down after our own mistakes – then we get a goal back but give a goal away almost straight after that and again it sucked the life out of us.

"If you can hold that 2-1 long enough it gives you confidence back, but nerves came into it and they were bad goals to give away.”