Report by: Cayden Sands

REECE Kendall’s second half leveller proved to be in vain as Guiseley slumped to another late 2-1 defeat, this time at the hands of Workington AFC in Cumbria on Saturday.

In a similar series of events to those at Matlock, the Lions were unable to hold out for a point at Borough Park, with a 90th minute winner from Sam Smith meaning that both the season and Liam Tongue’s second spell as interim manager ended with little fanfare.

Both sides opted for a slow and methodical start, with them mainly just passing the ball around to find and create any holes that could give them a quick advantage and set the pace going forward.

The Reds would prove to be very effective with this method and would create the game’s first big chance on the six minute mark after Scott Allison was able to make a break towards goal and had a golden opportunity to open the scoring, but the side netting would get in the way and would deny Allison from scoring what would have been a great goal.

After this, the game returned to the pace it had been played at early on, with a series of half chances largely being the story of the game for both sides up to this point.

The hosts would gain the advantage and found themselves with another promising opportunity that this time came from David Symington, who was able to move in on Ollie Battersby before producing a shot that was well saved by the visitors’ keeper to keep the scores level.

The game would then quieten down again, with it continuing to be played in a chess-like manner, with the Lions having a moment of note thanks to this strategy on 38 minutes when a good move by several members of the team led to a cross that showed some promise as it went into the box, but Jim Atkinson would rise highest to catch the ball and prevent the visitors from taking the lead.

Workington wouldn’t have to wait long to take the lead after this, capitalising on their domination of chances in the 43rd minute when a well-hit cross would find its way into the box and onto the head of Steven Rigg, whose effort would beat Battersby and give the Reds the lead as the whistle went for half time, with Guiseley once again needing to regroup and refocus for the second half.

The half began in a similarly slow fashion to the first, though much like the first 45 minutes, the hosts would manage to produce an early chance, with Symington capitalising on a lapse in the Lions’ defence before forcing another save out of Battersby.

The visitors’ performance improved from this point and this allowed for them to test Workington much more frequently, but the lack of bite that has plagued Guiseley’s run in continued in these moments, with the opportunities being created eventually causing little to no problems for their opponents.

A chance would finally pay off for the Lions on 71 minutes when they managed to win a free kick in a promising position that was excellently crossed by Adam Dawson into the box before being headed home by Reece Kendall, adding to his impressive tally for the season and giving the visitors a much needed goal to press on and get a result.

The visitors continued to enjoy their best spell of the game as the minutes ticked down, with the likes of Jameel Ible and Michael Afuye having chances that on any other day could very well have gone in.

These misses proved to be vital, with Workington winning the game in added time after yet another lethal cross would go into the box before being connected with by the head of Smith, allowing him to beat Battersby and secure a deserved victory for the Reds, whilst also ending Guiseley’s season in a summary of their run in, in underwhelming fashion.