Report & Pictures John Hopkins
WARRINGTON Rylands failed to progress into the second qualifying round of the Emirates FA Cup after losing 1-4 to Guiseley at The Quickline Logistics Arena.
With so many first-choice players not available for selection, Neil Reynolds faced a tough decision naming his squad. The situation became even more disappointing as three more injuries were picked up during the match.
The absence of Scott Holding in the Blues’ defence, who picked up a pulled hamstring against Stocksbridge Park Steels, and frontman George Waring made a huge impact on the style of play.
Tunde Owolabi started his first game since picking up an injury in a pre-season match and was so close to opening with an early goal, but it was Amir Berchil who took the honours, beating Pilling at the other end after just 8 minutes.
Jake Burton has been on form this season and is always a threat in front of goal, so when he received the ball in the penalty area 18 minutes later, there was little doubt that he would score. His powerful shot flew past Joe Cracknell in the Guiseley goal to even the score.
It wasn’t long, however, before The Lions retook the lead with a 35-minute goal by Jordan Thewlis. There were cries for offside, but neither the referee nor the linesman saw it.
Adam Caddick in action
Warrington battled hard and continually pushed forward, looking for another goal. When Will Longbottom came off the bench, he found the gap behind the advancing home side and increased Guiseley’s lead on the 62nd and 73rd minutes.
Longbottom was up for a hat-trick, but his injury-time penalty floated into the trees behind the goal.
Despite being unbeaten in the league, Reno’ said that having so many key players out had a huge impact on the result. There has been a succession of games over the Bank Holiday and the lads have put in plenty of minutes in a short space of time.
“We’ve had an off day today, and congratulations to Guiseley”. We now have a week to prepare for Hednesford, but we won’t forget today.”
“We’ll learn from this and, hopefully, come back stronger.”
Hednesford Town visit Rylands for a league fixture on Saturday, 6th September.
