Guiseley 3 Halesowen Town 0

THE Lions will be in tomorrow's FA Cup fourth qualifying-round draw after a regulation win over Halesowen in an entertaining tie.

Guiseley could have been close to double figures as Adam Boyes narrowly missed four gilt-edged chances and the woodwork was rattled several times.

Lions boss Mark Bower was delighted with the win, saying: “It was pleasing because I thought we were very good from start to finish, the only down side is that we could have scored more goals.

“But that doesn’t matter, we started out looking for the win that would take us through and we got it. It was a very professional display from us.”

It was a bright start for the home side and Boyes was presented with his first chance in the eighth minute but he fired wide from the corner of the six-yard box.

He had the goal at his mercy again following good work by Jake Lawlor and Gavin Rothery but again the ball went wide.

Halesowen keeper Matt Sargent certainly earned his money and midway through the first half he did exceptionally well to deny Boyes, tipping a shot over. Danny Ellis headed wide across the face of goal from the resulting corner.

Minutes later Boyes came even closer but this time his low shot came back off the inside of the post. The ball was recycled and crossed back in but Andy Holdsworth was just beaten to it at the near post by a defender at the expense of a corner.

The pressure finally told just after the half hour but ironically there was a touch of fortune about Guiseley’s opener. Nicky Boshell had done well to cut inside and make space for the shot but as he tried to curl it to Sargent’s right, the ball struck a defender and beat the keeper to his left.

There was all manner of chaos in the visitors' area in the 36th minute with bodies being thrown in front of shots on target. Rothery raced onto one rebound and lashed a shot but the ball came back off the underside of the bar and was somehow cleared.

That could have been costly because two minutes later Rothery made an error just yards outside his own area allowing Halesowen striker Iyseden Christie to steal possession but as he ran into the area he was crowded out when there were two unmarked team-mates that he could have picked out.

Boyes wasted a good chance by straying offside but the second goal did come before the break. When a Boshell shot was blocked, Rothery pounced to thump home the rebound from eight yards.

The visitors should have cut the deficit early in the second half but Rupert Thompson-Brown fired over when it looked simpler to score. However, the home side were soon creating again but Boyes and Boshell both shot wide.

The third goal sealed the result in the 67th minute and it was Brooksby who stabbed it home from the edge of the area after beating Sargent to the ball. There was still time for Boshell to be foiled by the woodwork twice more.