Guiseley 3 Kings Lynn Town 0

GUISELEY kicked off the new season with a big win against newcomers Kings Lynn Town in the Vanarama National North but the scoreline doesn’t tell the full story.

The Lions played well against their Norfolk visitors and deserved the three points but the margin of victory flattered them.

Kings Lynn beat Farsley Celtic’s big rivals Warrington Town in last season’s super play-off to earn promotion from the Southern League and, despite a defeat on their bow at the higher level, they were tough opponents.

Two of Guiseley’s close season signings shared the three goals as Aaron Martin broke the deadlock before Jamie Spencer bagged a second-half brace. It was an excellent competitive debut for Spencer, captured from neighbouring rivals Bradford (Park Avenue) during the summer, as he claimed the assist for Martin’s opener.

The visitors could have taken an early lead after hesitation in the home defence but Lions’ skipper Scott Garner came to the rescue.

Just ten minutes later a good move led to an inviting cross from Spencer and Martin, who was Brighouse Town’s leading scorer last term, headed Guiseley in front on his competitive debut.

Kings Lynn had a good chance to level minutes before the break but George Sykes-Kenworthy, the young Bradford City keeper on loan to the Lions, made a fine save.

Into the second half the Lions doubled their lead when a pass from Reiss McNally found Spencer and he lashed a shot on the turn past Linnets’ keeper Alex Street. A later shot from the former Avenue midfielder nestled in the same corner of Street’s net.

Guiseley’s joint manager Russ O’Neill was delighted with the win but keen to be complimentary about the Linnets’ performance. He said “I think we beat a very good team today – they had a long journey and they caused us a lot of problems.

“Every time they changed shape we stood strong and I’m really happy with the three points and clean sheet.

“We said before the game that we’d had a hard pre-season against a lot of full-time teams but we needed to take that into the Kings Lynn game – when the real football starts.

“To a man I think our lads did that. When it really counted they stood up and got a well deserved victory. As a group we’re really happy to get a victory from that first game of the season.

“To get those three points on the board takes us nicely into Tuesday which we know will be a hard game despite Bradford's result today.”

Guiseley make the short trip to Park Avenue, who lost 5-0 at Curzon Ashton in their opening game.