A POOR performance against a physically strong and well-organised Guiseley team severely dented Chorley's hopes of forcing their way into the UniBond first division play-offs and allowed the Yorkshiremen to complete a deserved league double.
The Magpies lacked cohesion and despite playing five in midfield were over-run in that department, with lone striker Lee Wilkinson too often an isolated figure up front.
An uneventful first half looked destined to end goalless until Guiseley seized control of the match with two strikes in quick succession just before the break.
Firstly, James Nettleton breezed down the left before firing in a low cross which Alan Bailey swept home with some style.
Then two minutes later Billy McCartney made a hash of ushering the ball back to keeper Lee Bracey and Bailey pinched possession to score the simplest of goals from short range.
A double half-time substitution by Chorley saw Andy Mason and Lee Molyneux replace the ineffective Bobby Jones and the struggling Phil Baylis and within three minutes the Magpies halved the deficit. An almighty goalmouth scramble ended with Guiseley's Peter Sumner acrobatically clearing off the line only for Stuart Tulloch to head in from point-blank range. But any hopes of a complete Chorley recovery were extinguished on 71 minutes when highly impressive centre-back Jonathan Wordsworth headed Guiseley's third from a corner, the ball dropping over Bracey who looked clearly at fault. McCartney wastefully headed wide from a Chorley corner before with virtually the last kick of the match Wilkinson skipped round keeper Chris Hill to finish splendidly from the tightest of angles. But it was too little too late, Chorley's inconsistency ending a week of progress in both league and cup on a low note to the frustration of a good-sized crowd.
CHORLEY...2 GUISELEY...3
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