Dabbers boss: All 11 of our starting line-up were poor (From Crewe Guardian)

Dabbers boss: All 11 of our starting line-up were poor

2:17pm Thursday 9th April 2009

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Nantwich Town 0 Guiseley 2.

A GOAL in each half condemned Nantwich to their first home defeat since the 1-0 loss to Cammell Laird on New Year’s Day.

The Dabbers looked a shadow of their usual selves and Guiseley were on the front foot from the start.

That said, Dave Whittaker did have a good chance early on, his close-range header deflected to safety by Guiseley keeper Piotr Skiba.

But it was the visitors who edged in front after Nantwich failed to clear the ball during a 10th minute goalmouth scramble and Guiseley winger James Hanson drove the ball into the roof of the net from three yards out.

Hanson’s penetration along the Nantwich right side persistently allowed the tall winger to send in crosses from deep and, during one particular assault, Dave Merris was not far off target with a powerful header.

James Walshaw was also a whisker away from getting on to the end of left back Gerome Fitzgerald’s looping centre that dropped invitingly inside the six-yard box before the alert Lee Jones gathered just in time.

The longer the half progressed, the more the Dabbers struggled, hardly stringing passes together.

However, on the half-hour mark, Nantwich put together a move that saw Michael Lennon place a close range header from an in-swinging corner inches over the angle of post and bar.

The second half continued in similar vein to the first period, with Nantwich looking decidedly out of sorts.

The lively Walshaw continued to cause the home side problems, particularly down the left hand side and doubled his side’s lead three minutes after the break, shooting from an angle under the diving Jones.

On 63 minutes, Jones was again called into action and did well to punch clear from a Simeon Bambrook shot.

Two minutes later, Nantwich made a double substitution, introducing Robin Gibson and Andy Kinsey and Kinsey went close to reducing the deficit but his close range header was a shade too near to Skiba.

But he was desperately unlucky not to defeat Skiba with a shot that dipped toward the foot of the left hand post, the Guiseley custodian flinging himself across his line to tip the shot away to safety.

In the 83rd minute, MacPherson delivered a perfect ball into the path of the overlapping Lennon but, although the ball beat both defence and keeper, his shot fizzed a couple of yards wide of the far post.

But these were rare moments in a game which hardly tested Guiseley and, four minutes from normal time, visiting left back Fitzgerald fluffed a golden opportunity to add a third with a shot from an unmarked position deep on the Nantwich right.

Nantwich were still not quite done and Kinsey again went close to reducing the deficit when his powerful 22-yard free kick bent over the wall and cannoned off the crossbar seconds before the final whistle.

Disappointed Nantwich manager Steve Davis said: “All 11 of our starting line-up were poor.

“We rarely got the ball down and struggled to make a decent pass all afternoon. The consequence of this was to let Guiseley largely dictate the game. In fairness they were the better side and deserved the points.”

Nantwich: Jones, Smith (Beeston 41), Tickle, Tinson, O’Loughlin, Parkinson, Carter, MacPherson, Whittaker (Kinsey 65), Lennon, Griggs (Gibson 65). Subs not used: Hawthorne, Jack.

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