Tournament Heartbreak for Guiseley!

Saturday 9th June 2001

Guiseley Dynamos Under 7’s took part in the Silsden AFC Juniors 6-a-side Tournament this Saturday. Both Dynamos teams were eliminated at the group stage but the “A” team in particular was unlucky to lose their vital qualifying game to a late goal.

The Guiseley squads were

A Team B Team
Jake Walker Chris Fogden
Murray Watson Lewis Noon
George Myers Chris Statham
Adam Swales Luke Grimston
Nicholas Taylor Callum Gunn
Richard Vennard Liam Calder
Robbie Graham Joshua Flynn
Thomas Hawran Jamie Caunt

Each team was in a five-team group, playing four 5-minute each way games with the top two progressing to the quarter finals.

The “A” team began their campaign in League B with a match against Shipley Juniors “B”. Usually slow starters in tournaments, the Dynamos were this time quickly out of the blocks and took an early lead when a vicious Richard Vennard corner was deflected into the Shipley net by a defender for an own goal. Shortly after half time Nicholas Taylor extended Guiseley’s lead after some neat interplay and although Shipley briefly threatened to get back into the game with a goal, some fine defensive work by Adam Swales kept them out and Thomas Hawran sealed the win with a late goal.
Dynamos’ next game was against tournament hosts Silsden Juniors. A tough game saw Guiseley mostly on the defensive. The first half stayed scoreless but Silsden finally managed a deserved goal after the break and despite some desperate attacks late on Guiseley could not find a way back into the game.

That defeat left Guiseley needing at least a draw against group leaders Bradford Wildcats “A” to stay in the tournament. Dynamos had the better of the early exchanges and looked more than a match for the Wildcats. Bradford slowly fought their way back into the game and almost took the lead on the stroke of half-time when a free kick struck the post. The second half brought more Bradford pressure but some good saves from Jake Walker and great tackling from Murray Watson looked to have secured a point for Guiseley. But with time running out, a speculative long range shot from the Wildcats beat Jake’s despairing dive to inflict a somewhat undeserved defeat on the brave Dynamos team. The referee awarded the Man of the Match award to Murray Watson.

With only pride to play for in their final game, Guiseley came out firing on all cylinders and put Myrtle Park “B” to the sword. Robbie Graham’s opener in the first minute was followed by a Richard Vennard hat-trick before half time. Robbie Graham then proceeded to fire four more goals after the interval to secure the Man of the Match award for himself and third place in the group for his team.

Guiseley were left to reflect that only Bradford’s late winner had prevented them from progressing to the quarter finals.

League B

Guiseley Dynamos A v Shipley Juniors B 3-1
Bradford Wildcats A v Myrtle Park B 8-0
Guiseley Dynamos A v Silsden Juniors B 0-1
Bradford Wildcats A v Shipley Juniors B 0-0
Myrtle Park B v Silsden Juniors B 0-7
Guiseley Dynamos A v Bradford Wildcats A 0-1
Myrtle Park B v Shipley Juniors B 0-5
Silsden Juniors B v Bradford Wildcats A 0-1
Myrtle Park B v Guiseley Dynamos A 0-8
Silsden Juniors B v Shipley Juniors B 0-0

Final Table P W D L F - A Pts
1. Bradford Wildcats A 4 3 1 0 10 – 0 7
2. Silsden Juniors B 4 2 1 1 8 – 1 5
3. GUISELEY DYNAMOS A 4 2 0 2 11 – 3 4
4. Shipley Juniors B 4 1 2 1 6 – 3 4
5. Myrtle Park Juniors B 4 0 0 4 0 – 28 0


Over in League C Guiseley Dynamos “B”, fresh from their triumphant run to the semi finals of the Shipley Tournament opened with a hard-fought goalless draw against local rivals Menston Hotshots.
 
Dynamos next game against Oakworth “A” saw them fall two goals behind before a typical Lewis Noon blockbuster gave some hope of salvaging a point. However a late Oakworth strike settled the game 3-1. Lewis was awarded the Man of the Match award for this game.
 
Guiseley also fell quickly behind against Bradford Wildcats “B” but were able to hit back to clinch a draw (goal scorer unknown!). Joshua Flynn picked up the Man of the Match prize.

Dynamos finished the tournament with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Shipley Juniors “A” but should take consolation in the fact that they were only defeated by the “A” teams in their group.

League C

Bradford Wildcats B v Oakworth A 1-0
Guiseley Dynamos B v Menston Hotshots 0-0
Shipley Juniors A v Bradford Wildcats B 0-0
Oakworth A v Guiseley Dynamos B 3-1
Shipley Juniors A v Menston Hotshots 1-0
Bradford Wildcats B v Guiseley Dynamos B 1-1
Oakworth A v Shipley Juniors A 0-2
Bradford Wildcats B v Menston Hotshots 0-0
Guiseley Dynamos B v Shipley Juniors A 0-3
Oakworth A v Menston Hotshots 0-0

Final Table P W D L F - A Pts
1. Shipley Juniors A 4 3 1 0 6 – 0 7
2. Bradford Wildcats B 4 1 3 0 2 – 1 5
3. Oakworth A 4 1 1 2 3 – 4 3
4. Menston Hotshots 4 0 3 1 0 – 1 3
5. GUISELEY DYNAMOS B 4 0 2 2 2 – 7 2