We progress to the next round of the FA Trophy thanks to a sole header from Owen Burns, with the midfielder bagging his second goal in as many games
It was a much shorter trip this time for your Steelmen, as we went from home games at TS10 to an away one at TS14 as we took on Guisborough Town.
The Priorymen had been promoted to Step 4 for this season, and were doing alright in the league we stormed through, and after beating Ashington in the previous round, they would be hoping to continue their run.
We, however, also had aims in sight, and after the frustrating result against Macclesfield, this would be our last chance this season at an unlikely trip to Wembley.
A rotated squad would see Adam Boyes, Nathan Guru, Lewis Hawkins, and Louis Johnson drop to the bench, along with starts for Mitch Parkinson, Luke Spalding, and Andrei Ardelean, and Danni Lay being left out of the squad altogether, with our stalwart defender having played every minute so far this season.
It would be a mixed start for us, as the hosts would have a few shots on goal, but we would have several of our own, too.
An early strike from Spalding would test Guisborough’s keeper, with our winger pulling off some neat dribbling en route to goal.
Connor Smith would have our next shot on goal, but his attempt would go over the bar, and things would proceed to dull down just a bit.
After a Guisborough strike sailed over the bar, we would then produce our best chance of the match, as Owen would do brilliantly down the right before whipping a ball right across the face of goal that would agonisingly be knocked wide by Luke Spalding.
However, Luke would nearly create a goal himself, as a blistering run down the left would see him leave defenders behind, but his pass into the box was cleared behind before it could truly trouble the goalkeeper.
Guisborough would then nearly be gifted a goal, as a lapse at the back allowed the hosts to pounce and go through one-on-one with Josh Mazfari, but a tame shot was held by our keeper.
The last bit of action in the half would see Ciaran Banks and Oscar Fletcher have shots on goal that would both go wide, and the interval would soon follow with the score level.
The second half would start with a change, with Oscar being brought off for Brad Fewster.
Brad would then be one of three players to have great chances for the Steelmen, as he, along with Luke and Andrei, would see their attempts blocked or saved in a frustrating minute overall for us.
We would keep the ball as the half advanced, with a cross into the box just evading Danny Rowe, before, up the other end, Mitch would put in a solid tackle to stop a shot from the hosts.
We passed the hour mark level, despite our best efforts, and brought on Louis Johnson, Adam Boyes, and Lewis Hawkins in a triple sub.
They would instantly improve our level, with Boyes having a strike within two minutes of entering the field, with his attempt being pushed out of the box before a subsequent lob from Owen would miss the goal.
Ciaran would win us a free kick in the 75th minute after some great ball retention, though that set piece was hit into the gloves of the Guisborough keeper, and we would pass the 80th minute with penalties looking more and more likely
Thankfully, for us, we would get the breakthrough, as Louis would get the ball on the right and lift a ball into the box that would be headed past the keeper and into the net by Owen Burns, giving us a deserved, but hard-worked lead
That goal would really be the last bit of action in the match, as Guisborough would push for an equaliser, keeping us in our own third, with the hosts going as far as to kick the ball out of Mazfari’s hands
Luckily, the referee had spotted that one, and the full-time whistle would eventually blow
A slender lead, but we had won, and it means we are going into the next round of the FA Trophy
The draw will most likely be on Monday, and so details about that will be announced soon
Alfreton Town up next for us, though, with that game coming on Saturday at Green Lane
See you there!
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