GUISELEY made it eight stalemates for the season with a 1-1 home draw against a Spennymoor Town side that had one eye on the summit of the National League North.

The visitors grabbed the lead from a contentious penalty late in the first half but the Lions chipped away and bagged a deserved equaliser just before the hour mark as two well-drilled sides cancelled each other out for long periods.

Guiseley had the ball in the Moors’ net just after the half-hour mark, but there was nothing to celebrate. Moors keeper Matt Gould had made a fine save, parrying Lewis Walters’ effort, but the loose ball fell to Will Hatfield and his mis-hit shot was flicked in by Rowan Liburd who was in an offside position.

The Moors were awarded the penalty when the ball hit Cliff Moyo’s hand. The home side contested the decision, to the extent that Liburd was shown a yellow card, but Glen Taylor remained composed and lashed the spot kick low into the corner of Jon Worsnop’s net.

Spennymoor had a spell of pressure at the start of the second half and almost grabbed a second, but James Curtis’ header following a corner clipped the bar on its way over.

After being denied by an offside flag and having his name taken for overzealous complaints about the Moors’ penalty, it was Liburd who scored the equaliser. He picked the ball up deep and went on a strong run before firing a shot past Gould.

The visitors played the last six minutes and four of added time with 10 men after Steve Brogan picked up a second yellow card, for a handball offence that he hotly disputed.

Moors’ boss Jamie Chandler though a draw was a fair result but the Lions’ joint manager Marcus Bignot felt his side deserved more. He said: “We just ran out of time to be honest, so it’s frustrating not to have won.

“They had their bit of luck regarding the penalty and it looked like they were trying to protect that lead in the second half. We’ve dominated the ball but it’s difficult when a team sits back and makes the pitch half a pitch.

“They were just waiting for us to make a mistake so that they could spring us on the counter but I thought we dealt with that and were good on the ball and created chances.

“It was a good team performance and we wanted to win but it was important that we didn’t lose.”