Guiseley 2 Ebbsfleet United 2

THE next time anyone who was at Nethermoor on Saturday meets Wayne Rooney, England's all time leading scorer, they will be quite within their rights to look at him in awe and ask ‘are you John Rooney’s brother?'

The younger sibling netted an absolute stunner that had Nethermoor deafened by chants of ‘Rooooney, Rooooney!'

It was not just worth the admission price – it was so good the Guiseley season ticket holders have already had their money’s worth.

The Lions had forced a 17th minute corner and, as it was delivered to the unmarked Rooney, he caught it on the half volley 20 yards out and his bullet strike went in off the underside of the bar – giving visiting keeper Nathan Ashmore no chance.

Guiseley were the better side in that first half, but they only had that narrow lead at the break.

The visitors came out for the second half far more determined and had the Lions penned into their own half.

There were some scares, with crosses and through balls going through the Lions’ area and the pressure finally told as Ebbsfleet forced a leveller. And it was no surprise when they took the lead minutes later.

Keeper Jonny Maxted had made some excellent saves throughout the game but could only parry Luke Coulson’s low centre just after the hour mark. The rebound found Myles Weston and his shot clipped Ebbsfleet’s Darren McQueen on its way in.

Maxted complained that McQueen was in an offside position but referee Karl Evans was having none of it.

The Lions’ defence were looking for another offside flag that didn’t come minutes later when McQueen latched onto a through ball and outstripped the Guiseley centre backs before slotting a shot past the onrushing Maxted.

Lions boss Adam Lockwood had made a substitution between the goals, Frank Mulhern coming on for Raul Correia, and the change soon paid dividends.

With 12 minutes remaining, Mulhern’s angled shot dipped onto the far post. The follow up shot was parried by Ashmore but only as far as Reece Thompson who drilled in the loose ball to mark his competitive debut with a goal.

A pleased Lockwood said: “I thought it was a good game, two teams going at each other and it was end-to-end at times.

“But it was a tough test, as every game is at this level. There were periods when we could have been better but there were periods when I thought we were excellent.

"It’s always nice to get points on the board because it took us until September last year.

“It would have been nice to get three but if you can’t win a game it’s vital that you don’t get beaten.

"I thought that the lads showed a lot of character and resilience and we’ve got the quality within the group to make changes during games.”