Guiseley 1, Droylsden 3: Guiseley found it unlucky 13 when they faced Premier Division side Droylsden on Saturday in the UniBond League Chairman's Cup.
A beleagured Guiseley hardly had the best preparation for this their 13th cup tie of the season. Midfielder Stewart Airdrie had been recalled by Hednesford despite the promise of a permanent deal when his loan period ran out. Hednesford have injury problems of their own and recalled him.
Still without striker Ryan Senior and midfielder Ben Thackwray manager Neil Parsley also had to contend with the farcical surroundings of Nathan Hay's removal from the team on the morning of the game.
The former Huddersfield Town youngster had tentatively agreed to trying his luck in New Zealand but then changed his mind. Unfortunately the New Zealand club had applied for his international clearance and once that dropped on the doormat of Guiseley secretary Bruce Speller's home on Saturday morning he was out of the Guiseley team.
With the FA offices shut for the weekend there was no way of reversing the clearance.
Guiseley struggled to find the good form that they had shown against Alfreton Town. Droylsden took advantage with some slick football and the game was virtually over by half-time as they built up a 3-0 lead.
Andy Shuttleworth replaced Airdrie in midfield and veteran Clive Freeman was recalled to cover for Hay at left-back.
Guiseley's defence was caught in complete disarray when after only five minutes a long clearance from Droylsden 'keeper Paul Phillips found Darren Wright who beat Chris Hill with ease. Richard Chattoe as ever worked hard to try and get Guiseley back into the game. He fed Freeman on the overlap and his ball in found Shuttleworth but his header was blocked for a corner.
Hill then had to make two saves from Porter and Wright with Droylsden looking very much the Premier Division side.They increased their lead in the 16th minute as Haarhoff fed Salmon and he beat Hill with an angled drive.
Alan Bailey had two chances to reduce the arrears only to find Phillips in fine form. He blocked Bailey's shot with his leg and then produced a magnificent diving save to palm away Bailey's header.
Despite having an equal share of possession Guiseley failed to make much progress and Wright ended a move by hitting the bar.
Peter Atkinson's good back pass gave Hill ample time to deal with it but he dithered and Haarhoff stole in to charge the ball down and slot it into an empty net.
The second-half began with the ring rusty Freeman hitting a wayward ball allowing Porter to shoot just wide.
In an attempt to grab something out of the game Guiseley manager Neil Parsley threw on all three of his substitutes in the 55th minute. Richard Harris (making his debut), Kevin Newhouse (in his swansong before going to work in Spain) and Gary Shaw replaced Chattoe, Sumner and Freeman. It almost went wrong for him as no sooner had play re-started than Jon Wordsworth went down injured.
Dave Henry started to impress himself upon the game and he went close with a 20 yard shot. Indeed it was Henry who brought some joy for the Nethermoor faithful with an 80th minute strike from the edge of the area drilling David Cooke's cross under Phillips.
It was lucky 13 for Guiseley Reserves on Monday night. Without a win in their 12 previous league games they gained a 5-3 win over high riding Burscough Reserves in the Lancashire League.
Gary Birchall opened the scoring but had to leave the field at half-time with a groin injury. He had played well in midfield alongside skipper Lee Poole.
Andy Shuttleworth added another before the break. Kevin Newhouse, Mark Thompson and Jason Rhodes netted in the second-half.
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