Guiseley 2 Maidstone United 1

GUISELEY moved to within a point of opponents Maidstone and the National League safety mark thanks to a 2-1 win at Nethermoor.

Given that this was a battle between two sides threatened with relegation, it could have been a scrappy affair.

Yet it was far from that and supporters were treated to a thrilling game played at high tempo, which demonstrated just how much quality there is in English football's fifth tier.

Michael Rankine hit the winning goal ten minutes from time after the visitors had a spell of pressure and threatened to take the lead.

They were stunned when a counter-attack led to a shot being blocked and the rebound was passed to Rankine, who drilled home on the half-volley.

Maidstone were stunned but not crushed and piled forward again. They forced two corners in the four minutes of added time and goalkeeper Lee Worgan came forward for both as they sought a last-gasp equaliser.

If Rankine's goal did not bring the house down, the final whistle certainly did as the Lions celebrated a home win and a potentially massive result.

Guiseley boss Adam Lockwood, named manager of the month ahead of the game, said: "Ranks was out of the side earlier in the season but he showed a great attitude and professionalism and earned his recall.

"Since then he's been great and, as I keep saying, if you continue to do the right things you will get the rewards. He certainly got that with his goal.

"It's a big win for us – huge – but nothing is won or lost in January.

"We still had words in the dressing room and I'm not a 'happy chappy' on the whole because I thought we didn't hit our best on the day.

"I think we were a long way from it, actually. Having said that, there were some fantastic individual performances. But you don't win anything as individuals, it is about the team."

The two sides had traded penalties before Rankine's all-important strike.

Guiseley's spot-kick came just after the half-hour mark when James Wesolowski was brought down after Worgan had blocked an Elliot Green header with his feet.

Lions skipper Simon Walton struck the penalty hard and even though Worgan got a hand to the ball, it spun onto the post and into the net.

Just after the hour, Maidstone debutant Sam Yorke went down amid a cluster of bodies in the Guiseley area. Bobby-Joe Taylor, who had only just come on as a substitute, drilled the visitors' penalty through Jonny Maxted in the home goal.