Harrogate And Guiseley defied a frosty pitch to provide an exciting Boxing Day derby.
A bumper crowd of 828 saw Referee Ryan Johnson award four penalties, three of them against Town.
After an even first twenty minutes,in which both teams played some excellent attacking football, Guiseley broke the deadlock with the first penalty of the match.
Craig Nelthorpe clashed with Luke Parkin on the edge of the box and Mr Johnson pointed to the spot.Gavin Rothery sent Craig MacGillivray the wrong way to register the first of his subsequent hat trick.
Town hit back strongly and Guiseley’s, Andy Holdsworth and Danny Boshell , were both booked as the Lions struggled to contain the Town forwards.
Harrogate’s pressure paid off after thirtythree minutes when Shane Killock stabbed past Steve Drench from close range after Guiseley failed to deal with a free kick into the box.
A harsh handball decision four minutes later enabled Rothery to convert his second penalty to restore Guiseley’s lead.
Shortly after the break, Adam Bolder had a chance to make it all square as Town were awarded a penalty, but Drench dived the right way to block Bolder’s weak shot.
However, Town were not to be denied and Steve Mallory restored parity when he scored from close range after the Lions failed to clear a corner.
Unfortunately, it was Guiseley who had the last laugh when MacGillivray dived at Alex Johnson’s feet to seemingly divert the ball for a corner.
Mr Johnson had other ideas and awarded his fourth penalty of the match,allowing Rothery to complete his hat trick and to deny Town a deserved share of the points.
Town
1 MacGillivray, 2 Bloomer, 3 Nelthorpe, 4 Bolder,5 Mallory, 6 Killock (c), 7 Nowakowski,8 Abbott,(Merris 45 mins), 9 Worsfold ( Hall 45) 10 Woods ( Hardy 78),11 Taylor.
Unused subs, 12 Sellars,14 Brown. Bookings Nowakowski,Abbott
Scorers,Killock 33,Mallory 63. Town”Man of Match”, Taylor. Att 828
By John Harrison
