Guiseley AFC 3 Whitby Town 1: Lions enjoy Yorkshire derby bragging rights thanks to Will Longbottom double

DOUBLE DELIGHT: Will Longbottom fires in an effort on goal for Guiseley in their 3-1 home win against Whitby Town on Saturday. Picture: courtesy of Robert Leal/GuiseleyAFCDOUBLE DELIGHT: Will Longbottom fires in an effort on goal for Guiseley in their 3-1 home win against Whitby Town on Saturday. Picture: courtesy of Robert Leal/GuiseleyAFC
DOUBLE DELIGHT: Will Longbottom fires in an effort on goal for Guiseley in their 3-1 home win against Whitby Town on Saturday. Picture: courtesy of Robert Leal/GuiseleyAFC
A 3-1 win over Yorkshire rivals Whitby Town, which included another brace from Will Longbottom, saw Guiseley AFC move up to second place in the Pitching In Premier Division – but still12 points behind runaway leaders Macclesfield.

The win put Guiseley three points ahead of Worksop and Ilkeston Town with a game in hand over both.

In a rich vein of form Longbottom's double, his seventh of the season, took his goal tally to 21 with 16 in the league.

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A cold, wet and blustery Nethermoor saw centre-back Jameel Ible open the scoring for Guiseley in the 18th minute following a good delivery from a corner. This was little more than Guiseley deserved after John Lufudu had sprinted away in the sixth minute to present Longbottom with a chance but he failed to get his shot on target. He found better range with a free-kick but Whitby 'keeper Shane Bland made a safe catch.

Ible also had a 13th minute range finder following a driving run by Lufudu, who cut inside to provide Ible with the chance to get in a great strike from distance which went just wide.

Guiseley doubled their lead in the 25th minute when a lovely ball from midfielder Jack Emmett found Longbottom who curled his shot into the top corner of the net.

Whitby pulled a goal back in the 33rd minute through Adam Gell before Guiseley had another chance with a free-kick for a foul on Lufudu but Longbottom's kick was straight at Bland.

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Guiseley took their 2-1 lead into the break and in the 58th minute Emmett, who had earlier received treatment for an injury, was replaced by Gabriel Johnson. Guiseley had a series of corners before making further changes in the 64th minute in an effort to ramp up the pressure on their visitors.

Two recent returnees from long term injury, Lewis Whitham and Jordan Thewlis, entered the fray to replace Lufudu and Joe Ackroyd and it was not long before Thewlis made his presence felt.

He robbed a defender in the 74th minute and drove forward to find Prince Ekpolo with his pass and he in turn found Longbottom who fired home at the near post to make it 3-1.

The Lions made a further substitution in the 76th minute with former Bradford City defender Liam Ridehalgh coming on to replace Adriano Moke for vital minutes following an injury.

Guiseley gained further corners but no more goals as they extended their unbeaten run in the league to eight games.

Guiseley have another home game on Tuesday when they entertain Leek Town (7.45pm).

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