Guilsfield continued their excellent start to the season with a solid 2-0 win over a battling Gresford Athletic.
The Guils took the lead in a controversial fashion from a Chris Cathrall tap-in and made sure of the three points when Rob James scored early in the second period.
The win extends Guilsfield’s lead at the top of the Cymru North to six points ahead of the weekend’s fixtures.
The match started in a very even affair with Gresford more than asserting themselves and having a lion’s share of the football and it was them who had the first chance at goal when Danny Holland hit a 25-yard effort wide of the goal.
Five minutes later came what was to be the home sides best chance of the match, when a great home counter-attack saw the ball come to Alex Buxton and he threaded a lovely through ball for Joe Chaplin who saw his effort saved by Guils keeper Michael Jones
Within a minute, Guilsfield went on the attack themselves and following a mistake from the home side, Greg Draper found himself one on one with goalkeeper Robbie Williams and usually the Cymru Premier legend is supreme in front of goal but on this occasion, he came undone by the side netting as he slotted wide from 18 yards.
Six minutes later, Guilsfield did take the lead and it was a goal that was marred with a bit of controversy. Greg Draper broke free down the right-hand side and the assistant referee raised his flag for offside. Draper never seen the flag and continued and crossed the ball for Cathrall to tap home.
Guilsfield celebrated, whilst Gresford and stopped. The referee after deliberating with the assistant for a few seconds decided the goal should stand and overruled the flag, a decision which Gresford felt harshly done by.
The rest of the first half seemed to pass by with incidents and yellow cards galore as the game got a bit needly with meaty challenges from both sets of players.
Gresford did start the second half with a bit of intent and striker Matthew Worrall had a 20-yard effort that hit the side netting.
However, that intent was short-lived as the league leaders got their 2nd goal of the game on 54 minutes when Rob James tapped in on the line following a long throw-in which was missed by the backline and the defender was on hand to tap home from a couple of yards out.
Leonard’s side pretty much did a professional job for the remainder and were happy to sit on what they had. They were comfortable in possession and were able to nullify anytime Gresford got on the ball and tried to attack.
There was one final notable effort late on in the match for the Guils to make it three but Greg Draper somehow headed the ball wide from a corner when usually you’d expect the net to ripple.
Y Clwb Pêl-droed’s Wesley Roberts analysis: Credit to Gresford who never gave up and for the first half they more than matched the league leaders but when the second goal went in, there was only ever one side who was going to win this match, and Guilsfield saw it out with a very professional performance.
Gresford Athletic: Robbie Williams, Simon Smith, Nathan Williams, Adam Hesp (Aaron Hassall 72), David MacIntyre, Joshua Griffiths (c), Michael Pritchard (Corey Smart 83), Danny Holland, Joe Chaplin, Matthew Worrall, Alex Buxton (Harvey Ellis 44).
Yellow Card: Joe Chaplin 45.
Guilsfield FC: Michael Jones, Callum Bromley, Chris Cathrall, Andrew Ford (Adam Jenkins 64), Sam Litchfield (c), Rob James, Spencer Parrish, Iwan Lewis, Iwan Matthews (Jake Cook 80), Jolyon Harries (Jamie Hyne 34), Greg Draper.
Goals: Chris Cathrall 24, Rob James 54.
Yellow Cards: Callum Bromley 38, Jamie Hyne 40, Iwan Matthews 45, Greg Draper 75.
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