West Auckland 1

Guisborough Town 0

GUISBOROUGH slipped back into the relegation dogfight after they lost 1-0 at West Auckland last Saturday.

The defeat was hard to swallow after a run of three straight wins had lifted them off the bottom of the table.

The Priorymen had to cope with a depleted squad on Saturday, with only manager Steve Corden and coach Steve Dowling on the bench. It also looks certain that they have lost influential goalkeeper Simon Corbett, who has been at the club for more than three years, as the wages bill is squeezed.

Guisborough totally dominated the first half and launched attack after attack, but West sat back unfazed as the Priorymen squandered chance after chance.

Then, just as the half was coming to a close, West broke out of defence with pace and deadly precision to rip Guisborough to shreds.

Guisborough had a good chance in the fifth minute when Stephen McLean found the ball at his feet just inside West's half. Turning two midfielders, he raced through the middle to release Peter Masters, who fired in a sweet left-foot shot just wide of the mark.

Then on nine minutes Masters clipped a cross into the goalmouth and Lee Alexander rose to power a header which keeper Jonathon Collinson just managed to push round.

West's first real chance came on 16 minutes when a good move down the left by Paul Stout opened up the Guisborough defence for Mathew Moffat to nip in and send in a low drive which had keeper Andy Vickers at full stretch to keep out.

They had another great chance on 27 minutes when Dale Jardine picked up a loose ball and left a posse of defenders in his wake as he jinked his way through the middle. He then sent in an inch-perfect pass to Colin Raitt, who could only chip it straight to the keeper.

Guisborough again started to control the midfield and their failure to score in the next ten minutes was down to in-form home keeper Collinson.

Not only did he make some acrobatic saves as both Alexander and Masters tested him with powerful long-range shots, but he was also not afraid to make a diving save at the feet of Paul Wilson just as he was about to shoot.

But Guisborough always looked vulnerable to the quick break and so it proved in the last minute of the first half when Jardine shrugged off the last defender before firing in a low drive which went under the diving Vickers.

The second half was a more evenly matched affair with both sides going forward to test each other's defence.

The first chance of the half fell to the home side when Moffat did the spade work by taking the ball into space on the right. He then flighted his pass perfectly for Colin Lawton to sprint on to, but his shot flew high and wide.

Then on 55 minutes Raitt skipped past the last two Guisborough defenders to fire in a cross which Moffat was unable to reach.

Guisborough did get one sniff of goal in the early exchanges when Masters got clear at the edge of the box. But Collinson was quick off his line to narrow the angle and pull off an excellent diving save.

The visitors then moved up a couple of gears, but the home side's defence stood firm and Collinson thwarted Masters' and Alexander's every effort.

West almost doubled their lead on 80 minutes when Andy Cole released Jardine on the left. As the flag stayed down, the nippy forward crossed low into the six-yard box where Chase McMullen slid in only to see his effort drift just wide.

With only seconds remaining on the clock, Guisborough almost grabbed the equaliser.

Alexander cleverly found Masters unmarked on the edge of the area and the striker brought out the best in Collinson with a fierce drive which the keeper held at the second attempt.

Overall, this was a game Guisborough could ill afford to lose as they are now pushed back into the relegation zone and have some hard matches coming up.

One of the most worrying aspects is that several key players are on the move to other clubs and, with the wages bill being squeezed, fans are starting to worry how many more will be going.

Guisborough will hope to get back on the winning trail on Monday when they entertain fellow strugglers Thornaby at the King George V Ground, kick-off 11am.

Guisborough Town: Vickers, McLean, Jameson, McMahon, Hyson, Sunley, Taylor, Kasonali, Wilson, Alexander, Masters.

* Northallerton Town gave their promotion hopes a massive boost with a 2-0 home win over division two leaders Prudhoe.

They have now dropped just two points in their last nine matches and are part of a breakaway group of five clubs at the top of the division.

Town went ahead after 25 minutes when Ross Diamond headed on for David Onions to lob the advancing keeper.

Anthony Roberts and Simon Corrigan then both hit the crossbar before Northallerton made sure of victory near the end when Corrigan set up substitute Ross Foreman to score from close range