Guiseley 1, Retford United 1

A rough and tumble UniBond League game at Nethermoor saw the Premier Division’s third and fourth-placed clubs having to settle for a share of the spoils.

Guiseley were hoping to give themselves a chance of going joint-second in the table, while Retford were looking for a maximum after losing ground on their promotion rivals. What ensued was an enthralling contest that swung one way and then the other.

Lions boss Steve Kittrick was philosophical in retrospect, saying: “They are a big, tough side and are difficult to break down and that’s why they are where they are. This was a typical battle with a top-four clash written all over it.

“I thought in the first 20 minutes we played all the football but they came back at us really well. Their goal came from our throw-in, which disappointed me, but we came back in the second half.

“Overall a draw might have been the fair result but we came closest to winning it. I was very pleased with the effort the lads put in and they will have known they were in a game because they had to fight for that point.”

Guiseley were cutting the visitors apart at will in the opening minutes and mounting most of the pressure. Retford were feeding on scraps but proving, with former Avenue winger Chris Bettney in their side, that they were dangerous on the counter attack.

Visiting keeper James Lindley made a superb save to keep out Jamie Walshaw’s free-kick midway through the first period.

Lions forward Adam Muller was causing problems and both Retford’s centre-backs were yellow carded for preventing him breaking through.

Two efforts just after the half-hour mark gave the visitors hope and by the 34th minute they had broken the deadlock.

Bettney was involved as his run and blocked shot led to the Lions defence trying to clear but the loose ball fell to Marvin Smith just inside the area and he drilled home.

Guiseley forced another series of corners at the start of the second period and a Walshaw header and an overhead kick by Andy Bell were both saved by Lindley. The second Bell effort bounced off the Retford keeper’s chest for yet another flag-kick.

The pressure finally paid off for the home side when a Dave Merris cross was cut out by the raised arm of Colin Marrison. A long time elapsed before Walshaw could step forward but he maintained his cool and lashed a low, hard drive past Lindley.

A glut of substitutions followed which allowed Guiseley’s new signing Simon Johnson and former Farsley midfielder Matty Young to make their home debuts.

They came within inches of finishing on the winning side as Walshaw’s 90th-minute shot from the corner of the area rattled the crossbar on its way over.