GUISELEY 1 CITY 2

CITY continue to feel the pre-season heat as Derek Adams ramps up the preparations for the League Two kick-off.

On another “scorchio” night at Nethermoor, the Bantams bounced back from conceding their first pre-season goal as Lee Angol came to the party.

The former Leyton Orient striker’s arrival is arguably viewed as the biggest gamble of the summer recruitment given his recent stop-start record.

But he has looked sharp from the off and did his chances no harm with a double burst that turned the game on its head. He earned the applause that greeted his late withdrawal.

There will be little chance to cool off with the squad straight back in action against Brighouse Town for the second part of the midweek double-header.

Eight men in white went the distance with that immediate turn-around in mind.

There are no short-cuts in the Adams blueprint to ensure his new club are fit and firing for Exeter on August 7. Everyone available is involved regardless of the opposition.

The players seem on board with that – the fans certainly are as they packed into the ground in a capacity all-ticket crowd in the region of 1,700.

It’s remarkable to think that only five of the squad have played in front of bigger City audiences up to now.

The waft of chips and queue for the bar were welcome reminders of football’s hoped-for inch towards normality after the soulless barren grounds of last season.

It was heart-warming to see so many fans seeking out acquaintances that had remained out of sight since the great shutdown began. Smiles were visible again; masks few and far between.

There was even a first chant of the W word at an opposing defender Hamza Bencherif – a sure sign of “normality”.

But amid all the off-field frivolities, this remains serious stuff for Adams.

There had been a new shape to City with Yann Songo’o lining up as the third centre half – though it didn’t last long.

Reece Staunton, making his first start since that fateful November night in east London, was the holder in a midfield three with Andy Cook and Angol paired together up front.

Angol had a sniff of goal after 10 minutes with a shot on the turn that was blocked in front the line by one of Guiseley’s trialists.

But it was the hosts who struck first a minute later, Jordan Thewlis working his way round the back of the City defence and past Staunton before cutting back for Kaine Felix to rifle home.

The 5-3-2 was immediately ditched for a more conventional back four as Songo’o returned to his usual role in the middle.

Guiseley – and Felix – should have had a second as Bailey Thompson sent him scampering clear, only to poke a shot past Richard O’Donnell but the wrong side of the post.

It was an escape for the Bantams who had been second best for half an hour. But then Angol turned the game on its head in a three-minute burst.

Shifted to the left as City reverted to their preferred system, his first was another to add to the growing list of persistence paying off; chasing down the defender, nicking the ball away and then rifling a shot across Declan Lambton at his near post.

Angol was then tripped by Lebrun Mbeka as he kept the ball in play – and delivered his own case for penalty duty by sending the keeper the wrong way. That’s three successful spot-kicks from three different takers.

Guiseley’s frustration boiled over with a rash challenge from George Cantrill on Alex Gilliead right in front of the dug-outs – which brought an angry Adams onto the pitch.

Cantrill picked up the booking he should have had before when he hauled down Gilliead again on the break.

City went into shoot-on-sight mode as Cook had a long-ranger charged down and Callum Cooke rattled one over the bar.

Angol was so close to a hat-trick when his header from Oscar Threlkeld’s cross – while taking a whack from Lambton at the same time – was cleared off the line by Brad Nicholson.

Paudie O’Connor got away with one as he missed a bouncing ball but Jordan Thewlis overran it into O’Donnell’s arms when through.

O’Donnell, one of only three survivors from City’s last visit and the only one from the Michael Collins era the year before, then denied Adam Haw an equaliser.

GUISELEY: Lambton, Mbeka, Nicholson, Ekpolo, Bencherif, Trialist, Trialist, Cantrill, Thompson, Felix, Thewlis.

CITY: O’Donnell, Threlkeld, O’Connor, Canavan, Ridehalgh, Songo’o, Staunton (Evans 67), Gilliead, Cooke (Vernam 78), Angol (Eisa 78), Cook.