Birtley Town vs Guisborough Town

Recap

Birtley’s stellar start to life in Division One continued on Wednesday night, with a hard-fought victory over Guisborough Town.

Match programme is available here. Match gallery is available here. 

In pre-season, the question on everyone’s lips was how Birtley would fare without the prolific Aidan Rutledge. The answer? So far, so good. Once again the Hoops found themselves in front within the first five minutes, and once again it stemmed from a trademark Glen Hargrave long throw. Lewis Orrell was the recipient on this occasion, firing home a sweet volleyed strike from the edge of the box after the ball was nodded down into his path by a defender.

A repeat of Saturday’s deluge was not on the cards however, as Guisborough stuck to their guns and remained very much in the game. Birtley’s Liam Wotherspoon and James Proctor both went into the book early on for late tackles, while Alfie Gordon produced a great save on the half hour mark to prevent a certain equaliser.

Guisborough’s Dylan McAvoy was the next to be cautioned for bringing down Hargrave, after the Birtley forward had evaded his marker with a deft first touch. As the half came to close, the Hoops had a chance to double their lead, but Wotherspoon’s free kick was fired straight at keeper Robert Dean.

Half-Time | Birtley Town 1 – 0 Guisborough Town

It remained nip & tuck in the opening stages of the second spell, with the first real chance coming on 55 minutes through a Jack Blackford free-kick, which Gordon did well to push wide.

The visitors were reduced to ten-men right on the hour mark, with Thomas Marron dismissed for denying Stephen Hall a clear goalscoring opportunity. Hall did find the back of the net in the next five minutes – not once, but twice – but on each occasion the referee spotted an infraction in the build up. The first one looked particular harsh as the Boro keeper was deemed to be impeded despite various protests from Hoops supporters. 

Wotherspoon finally doubled his side’s advantage in the 70^th minute, turning Lewis Exley’s cross into the net from close range after good build up play involving Lewis Orrell. Stephen Hall continued to be a thorn in the side of the Priorymen, creating another couple of chances, before James Proctor placed a fantastic chance wide.

In the 87^th minute, Guisborough got themselves a lifeline thanks to a looping header from James Frazer, but Birtley were able to ride out a tense last few minutes to continue their 100% start.

Full-Time | Birtley Town 2 – 1 Guisborough Town

It was another impressive performance from a Hoops side marshalled superbly by skipper Alex Francis, who scooped his second MOTM award in two games. Next up for Birtley is a break from league action, with a trip to Pontefract Collieries in the FA Cup.

Attendance – 282 including ex players Aidan Rutledge and Carl Magnay.

Manager’s Corner

Paul Bryson knew that it was well earned, hard fought victory: “We went into the game after a fantastic results at Redcar. I am a firm believe that the players can pick the team, we went into game unchanged and with the same formation as the players earned the right to do that. We started the game well and went 1-0 up through Lewis Orrell, it was great strike from the edge of the box. I thought Guisborough were fantastic after the opening goal, really good in possession, the interchange was very good and their movement too.

I think if we kept the same formation then the game was only heading one way. We chatted as a team and decided to tinker with the formation. This gave us a little more control of the game but they were probably disappointed with their final pass as their lead up player was brilliant.”

“We came in at half-time 1-0 up and praised the lads for adapting to the change in formation. We were much better in the second period. The work rate was excellent and we were a lot better in possession after the break. I was really pleased with the second half performance. They had a lad sent off and we have scored a great goal with Spoony finishing the move. In the meantime Alfie made a brilliant save from a free kick. It was a nervy last ten minutes as they pulled one back, piled the pressure on and were a threat. Thankfully we held on for another massive win.”

“Alex Francis was outstanding at the back, Stevie Hall at the other end was superb too, he was like a battering ram. We had a few chances to extend our lead. A return of six points is a great start. We would have taken someone’s hand off a week ago to be sitting here with six points. It gives us something to build up. We can’t wait for Saturday, we see it as a free hit in the FA Cup. The league is the priority and the first two results have given us a really good platform to go on.”

H2H vs Guisborough Town

Highlights