Defeats see Guiseley and Farsley Celtic slip further down the table

The result means the Lions are now just three points off the bottom of the table, with Farsley Celtic now in the one relegation place after the Celts’ 3-2 defeat at Brackley.

The wind was having an impact on the game from the offset, a corner by the hosts seemed to slightly change direction due to it and Owen Mason had to be alert to save.

Guiseley’s Brad Nicholson took a free-kick that again seemed to move slightly due to the wind and the ball was headed away from danger.

Southport took the lead just before the 20-minutes mark when a cross was whipped into the area and found Jordan Archer who had space to place his header past Mason and into the net.

Guiseley’s George Cantrill then had the first shot on target for his side as he stung the palms of Southport goalkeeper Cam Mason.

There had been a new signing announced in Scott McLean and he produced a smart finish to level the scores on his debut, his shot clipping the inside of the post before crossing the line.

This clearly gave Guiseley a boost going into the break and they showed promising signs during the second half with Ollie Brown delivering a cross that went past the face of the goal and just missed all the visiting players in the area.

While there were chances for both sides, it was the hosts who won it late on.

A mix-up at the back ultimately led to Archer lobbing the keeper from close range.

In caretaker-manager Dave Syers’ first match in charge of Farsley Celtic at Brackley – following Neil Ross’ departure – the visitors fell behind to a Matt Lowe brace, either side of a Jimmy Armson goal.

But, with six minutes left on the clock, Chris Atkinson’s quickly-taken free-kick saw Adam Clayton turn in a Jimmy Spencer cross.

Skipper Atkinson then got on the scoresheet himself in the 89th minute, firing in from long range after Clayton’s lay-off, but it proved too little, too late.