Johnson saves below-par Guiseley from shock loss to lowly Leek

GUISELEY remain second in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, but they dropped potentially costly points on Tuesday night, only managing to draw 1-1.

They entertained relegation-haunted Leek Town at Nethermoor and were odds-on to claim a routine home victory.

But the Lions, who made a few changes after Saturday’s tough win over Whitby Town in the midst of Storm Darragh, were below-par all night.

A dire first half ended goalless, with a good early save from Guiseley keeper Joe Cracknell the only real action of note.

Joe Ackroyd had had a tame header saved for the hosts too, but beyond that quarter-chance, the Lions were creating next-to-nothing.

Leek finally broke the deadlock in the game with 20 minutes to go, courtesy of Alex Hurst, who used to play under Guiseley boss Mark Bower at Bradford (Park Avenue).

Going a goal down seemed to finally wake the Lions up, and only a stunning save from Dino Visser stopped Will Longbottom levelling the scores from a free kick.

Guiseley did equalise with six minutes to go however, striker Gabriel Johnson beating Visser with a lovely low finish.

But it was Leek who nearly took home the three points, only for Billy Reeves to fire the ball wide from a last-gasp corner.

Guiseley will look to be much-improved when they travel to play-off rivals Hyde United this Saturday.

Pictures from the Leek game were captured by Matt Anderson, whose website can be found here.