Image Credit [Will Pickworth]
It was a tough night for ‘The Lions’, as they went down 3-1 to an impressive Blyth Spartans outfit. Will Pickworth gives his Guiseley player ratings for The Gryphon.
Guiseley
Joe Green: 6 – A tough night for the young stopper. Could do nothing about the goals which were all good finishes. Dealt with a couple of crosses impressively in the first half.
Cliff Moyo: 6 – Solid as usual, had a tough time coming up against the mercurial Robbie Dale, but handled him better as the game developed.
Jo Cummings: 5 – A hard night for the young defender against the impressive Blyth strike force of Kieran Green and Daniel Maguire but looked more solid than on his debut against Kidderminster. Will only improve with game time.
Will Thornton: 4 – A rough night for the young centre-back. After labelling him our Man of the Match on Saturday and highly praising him, tonight, like Cummings, he struggled to deal with Blyth’s attackers. Was probably at fault for both of Maguire’s goals, where he was held off for the first and skilled for the second.
Niall Heaton: 5 – Came up against the skilful Jarrett Rivers who caused him problems throughout. However, like Moyo, he improved as the game went on and his typical long-throw ins did cause a few problems for Blyth’s defence.
Alex Purver: 6 – The Guiseley stand-in skipper worked relentlessly throughout, however to little avail. His set pieces were impressive as ever, but struggled to deal with the dynamic Blyth attack, often leaving the Guiseley defence exposed.
Kingsley James: 7 – Like Purver, worked hard throughout but Guiseley struggled to link-up their play. Converted a well-struck penalty to score his 3rd league goal of the season and finished well with his disallowed goal. He provided an attacking threat from centre-midfield throughout.
Will Hatfield: 7 – The Danny Murphy look-a-like was lively as ever in the centre of the park. Made a great driving run for the penalty before he was fouled by Kieran Green and was Guiseley’s brightest spark going forward in the first half. Was replaced by Scott Smith after 75 minutes.
Lewis Walters: 5 – After an impressive performance at the weekend, the former Nottingham Forest youngster failed to make an impact tonight and was kept quiet by ex-Accrington left-back Michael Liddle. Replaced by Kaine Felix after 57 minutes.
Kayode Odejayi: 5 – Fed off scraps tonight and was unsuccessful in linking up play when Guiseley went forward. Looked slightly tired and may be worth rotating him at the weekend for his substitute today Paul Clayton.
Curtis Morrison: 7 – Our Man of the Match tonight. Rewarded with a start after some bright substitute appearances in recent weeks. Never stopped running up and down the left flank and created Guiseley’s best chances on the night.
Subs
Kaine Felix (replaced Lewis Walters after 57 minutes): 6 – Worked hard and made one imposing run down the right-hand side. However, was kept largely quiet by the impressive Liddle.
Scott Smith (replaced Will Hatfield after 75 minutes): 7 – Provided a spark in the final 15 minutes for The Lions. Showed great footwork in the closing stages, dinking in and out of the Blyth defenders before firing straight at Jameson in the Spartans’ net. Was one of the few Guiseley players who looked like making something happen.
Paul Clayton: N/A – Replaced Odejayi after 85 minutes and didn’t have enough time to make an impact.