Guiseley 3, Gloucester City 1

Guiseley booked a two-legged semi-final against North Ferriby United in the Skrill Conference North play-offs with this home victory last weekend.

The first leg against the east Yorkshire second-placed club was last night at Nethermoor, Guiseley triumphing 2-0, with the return leg on Saturday.

Mark Bower’s men were rampant against strugglers Gloucester, knowing that they only needed to avoid defeat at home to get the chance to fight for the second promotion place to the Conference Premier.

There must have been some squeaky bums when Gloucester took an early lead through Billy Jones but the home side soon settled the Nethermoor crowd’s nerves.

Bower said: “I’m proud to be associated with that squad and that dressing room. To have put together the run that we have done has been outstanding, and the players deserve a lot of credit for finishing in the top five.

“I was a little concerned about the way we started, though. We looked like rabbits caught in the headlights but we got a grip on things and got two goals in the first half.

"It could have been four and we played well in the second half so, in the end, it was a comfortable finish.”

An Adam Boyes double may have turned the game in the latter stages of the first half but it was Oli Johnson who weighed in with the first significant contribution.

Midway through the first half, the striker took two side-steps to get into the area and get a shot on target.

It was well parried by the Tigers’ keeper Mike Green but it got the home crowd animated, which raised the noise level and subsequently lifted the rest of the players.

Just after the half-hour, Boyes controlled a long ball into the area and side-footed it into the bottom corner.

Three minutes before the break, Wayne Brooksby’s blistering drive from outside the area was palmed away by Green but Boyes, who had found Brooksby with a great pass to set up the initial shot, drilled in the rebound.

Substitute Michael Potts wrapped up the scoring in the 80th minute. He had only been on for ten minutes when he raced through to glide around Green before slotting in from a tight angle.