Lancaster City frustrated by Guiseley

Lancaster City had a number of chances to beat Guiseley but had to settle for a goalless draw at Nethermoor Park.

Tuesday night's result moves them up to 15th in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

A brilliant second half display by the home side’s goalkeeper, Cameron Mason, kept the Dollies off the scoresheet.

Guiseley had a few decent goal scoring opportunities in the first half, but Lancaster were dominant from start to finish in the second, and deserved to get more than a draw.

The hosts started the game rather strongly, with City’s goalkeeper Sam Waller being called into action twice in the opening five minutes.

He eventually managed to hold onto the ball after a Guiseley free kick caused a scramble in the box.

Only moments later, Waller kept out Ross Daly’s effort before Kallan Murphy’s rebound went way over the crossbar.

Guiseley had another opportunity around the half hour mark. A ball from a corner flew through the hands of Sam Waller and fell to Ekow Coker, but he couldn’t direct his shot goalwards.

Towards the end of the first half, the visitors began to have more chances. Nic Evangelinos was denied by the goalkeeper who collected his effort from a one v one situation, then a few minutes later the number nine had another chance which deflected off a Guiseley man.

Charlie Bailey looked the most likely player to score in the the second half, having two golden opportunities in the first 15 minutes which were both brilliantly kept out by Cameron Mason in the Guiseley net. Bailey also had two other chances later in the half which went just wide of goal.

Mason did fantastically well to keep out the other Bailey brother, Sam, who got his free kick from outside the box over the wall, but Mason got to it before it could nestle into the top corner.

Lancaster kept pushing for a winner right up until the end of the game. Mason once again pulled off a great save to deny the Dollies the three points from a corner in the final few minutes of the match.

Lancaster’s man of the match was Nathan Woodthorpe, who was crucial in keeping the score at 0-0 and limiting Guiseley’s opportunities in the second period.

The Dollies boss Mark Fell couldn’t praise his side enough despite not managing to get the win.

He told the media “We were excellent, absolutely brilliant. It’s the most one-sided second half of a 0-0 I’ve seen for ages.

"We have run them off the park tonight.

“I was so pleased with how we played. If only we had taken one of numerous chances – seven, eight, nine or 10 in the second half alone!”

Fell was delighted with the defensive display from his three centre backs.

“Our back three certainly looked comfortable, it was a bit of a throwback to where we were at the start of the season when we weren’t conceding any goals.

"I thought Pawel (Zuk), Rudy (Misambo) and especially Nathan Woodthorpe were excellent. Nathan’s won every aerial duel tonight against a big, strong side.”

Fell also praised the forwards and how the players delivered exactly what he wanted tactically.

“Charlie (Bailey) has come back in after a long suspension and I thought he was excellent, a real handful. He glides at times and Nic (Evangelinos) is a really good foil for him.

“Tactically, the lads delivered what we asked them to do. They didn’t do that on Saturday (when they lost 2-1 to Stafford Rangers) and they got punished. I asked for a reaction and got exactly that. The importance now is that we step on and push onto Saturday.”

A visit from Whitby Town awaits Lancaster on Saturday (February 25).