Marine AFC’s play-off hopes were dealt a blow as Guiseley AFC left Rossett Park with maximum points following a 3-1 win.
The first chance went to Marine in the seventh minute when striker Louis Britton fizzed a dangerous ball to the back post, but Ben Hodgkinson failed to get on the end of it.
Guiseley then took hold of the game, utilising their high press effectively. Captain, Courtney Meppen-Walters made a crucial interception to prevent Hodgkinson from playing it across their goal.
The Lions were then forced into an early change in the 20th minute when defender Alejandro Machado pulled up with an injury. Harvey Rowe replaced him.
Just before halftime, a vital block from Rowe resulted in a corner. Sol Solomon’s cross was flicked into the path of Mark Howarth who calmly converted into the bottom corner to put Marine ahead going into the break.
The Mariners started the fixture with 10 players ruled out mainly due to injury. Their woes continued in the second half when Britton limped off and was replaced by James Barrigan at the 53rd minute mark.
Guiseley attacker, Lewis Whitham riled the home side when he dived in search of a penalty. Whitham was then booked for misconduct after a shoving match with defender, Joseph Bunney.
Marine captain, Charley Doyle went down holding his head claiming a foul but play continued as Guiseley were awarded a corner. It was then met by Kallan Murphy, who was left unmarked as his bullet header smashed into the top corner to level the game for the away side.
Bayleigh Passant was tested once again when Scott Bakkor tried to dink his shot over the keeper. However, the Marine goalie produced an excellent stop to deny Guiseley an equaliser.
The Lions then started to assert their dominance in the 90th minute. A catalogue of errors from the Marine defence left Passant in no man’s land as he was chipped by Benjamin Smales-Braithwaite from the edge of the box.
Agony followed for the Mariners as Smales-Braithwaite worked his magic once again. Weaving in and out of three defenders, he then unleashed a thunderous strike into the roof of the net to claim his brace.
A dominant second-half display from Guiseley saw them take all three points as they move up to ninth in the table.
As for Marine’s play-off hopes, this loss now puts them six points behind Bamber Bridge who sit in the top five. Neil Young’s side will be determined to make amends when they travel to eighth-placed Matlock Town on Tuesday (March 14).
