Tom Wardle Reports as Marine surrender half time lead as Guiseley triumph in stoppage time…
A late double from Benjamin Smales-Braithwaite awarded Guiseley maximum points as a second half collapse by Marine saw them lose 3-1 at the Marine Travel Arena this afternoon. Mark Howarth gave the Mariners the lead on the cusp of half time, though Kallan Murphy equalised with twenty minutes to go. Both teams looked for a winner which the visitors were successful in finding in the closing stages. The defeat leaves Marine 7th in the Northern Premier League; six points off the playoffs.
Neil Young named an unchanged team from last weekend’s 1-0 away win at Atherton Collieries. Luke Clark and Kyle Hayde were named amongst the substitutes.
The West Yorkshire side started the game on the front foot, but Marine came closest in the opening quarter of an hour.
A darting run down the flank by Ben Hodkinson ended with a low cross that deflected off Courtney Meppen-Walters. The ball ricocheted towards goal which Cameron Mason was alert to.
A chance brewed midway through the half, as Charley Doyle’s classy through ball sent Hodkinson one-on-one with ‘keeper Mason. However a great recovery challenge by early substitute Harvey Lowe prevented the forward from firing an effort on goal.
The rest of the opening 45 consisted of set pieces which neither team could take advantage from in nasty conditions.
That was until Howarth fired home from Sol Solomon’s corner with seconds of the half to spare. The delivery missed the intended target in the box and fell to Howarth who drove the ball into the bottom corner to score against his former club.
The injury list continues to mount up for manager Young, as Louis Britton was its most recent victim, he hobbled off for James Barrigan less than ten minutes after the break.
Marine fought for a second goal and were inches away from getting it when Hodkinson appeared to clatter the woodwork from close range. It came from a deep Barrigan cross from the left that he couldn’t convert at the far post.
Five minutes later, Guiseley levelled. Lewis Hey’s corner picked out the unmarked Murphy who gave Bayleigh Passant no chance with a powerful header.
The visitors almost scored another in quick succession, as Passant had to stand firm to deny Smales-Braithwaite’s effort.
The Lions went one closer when Hey’s wide free kick crashed off the post and was eventually scrambled away.
Passant was forced into action again to tip away Scott Bakkor’s attempted chip from inside the box.
Guiseley turned the game on its head in added time. Jonny Spittle’s loose pass was latched onto by Smales-Braithwaite who dinked the ball over Passant into an empty net.
He scored his brace a minute later. Following some quick footwork, Smales-Braithwaite fired a forceful shot from the edge of the area into the roof of the net to conclude a frustrating afternoon for the Mariners.
Marine return to action on Tuesday evening when they travel to Matlock Town for a 7:45pm kick off.
Marine: Passant, Solomon-Davies (Hayde 83), Bunney, Howarth (Smith 76), Johnson, Spittle, Hodkinson, Doyle ©, Britton (Barrigan 53), Solomon, Lussey.
Unused Substitutes: Weir, Clark.
Guiseley: Mason, Boateng, Piedrahita Machado (Rowe 22 (Whitham 45 (Cassidy 74), Daly, Assenso, Whelan, Smales-Braithwaite, Hey, Murphy, Bakkor, Meppen-Walters ©.
Unused Substitutes: Lees, Gardner.
Attendance: 1270.
