The match almost opened in dramatic style, as within thirty seconds of the start a break by Guisborough’s Jason Blackburn gave him a terrific shooting chance but he decided to relinquish responsibility by passing to a teammate but he over hit the pass.
Only five minutes had elapsed when Guisborough had another scoring chance, a corner the ball fell at the feet of Jack Blackford, although he struck a well hit shot, Benfield’s goalkeeper Andrew Grainger was up to the task in saving the ball.
Three minutes later and another scoring chance was missed by Guisborough captain Joe Bartcliff, who after receiving a square pass hit a poor high and wide effort over the Benfield goal.
The opening goal of the game came in the twenty-second minute, and it went to Benfield after a good run from Aiden Haley got Benfield a corner taken by Liam McNamara from which Aiden Haley rose to bullet a header past Boro keeper Will Cowey, making it 1-0 to Benfield.
This set back didn’t seem to deter the home team and they kept attacking and gained two quick corners in a row. Fortunately for Benfield they came to nothing.
Play was drifting towards the half hour mark when poor play from the home team almost gifted a second goal to Benfield when poor defensive play gave Aiden Haley a scoring opportunity, when he advanced forward to attempt a lob over the Boro keeper Will Cowey but he cleared the Guisborough cross bar to the relief of the home team.
Guisborough were getting more into the match after poor start to the game and deservedly got an equaliser in the thirty-first minute, a long cross field pass found Cole Kiernan who produced a fine finish giving the Benfield keeper no chance, making the score 1-1.
Two chances then came the way of the visitors in the matter of two minutes, firstly a long through ball found Eddie Thomas on goal but he hit a great scoring opportunity high & wide of the target.
It was the turn of Newcastle Benfield to come close to getting a second goal with five minutes of the half remaining, the ball was played down the right flank to find Clayton Watts who advanced forward to the by line before pulling the ball back to Cameron Gascoigne with his effort bringing a great save for a corner from Guisborough’s Will Cowey. This left the score at 1-1 which was the halftime score.
Another chance went astray for Newcastle Benfield in the ninth minute of the second half, a great ball to the far post by Aiden Haley found team mate Leighton Watts, but his poor connection on the ball saw the ball fly over the Boro crossbar.
It took another five minutes when a long through ball caused concern in the Benfield penalty area, to see Sam Reid do well to clear the ball to safety. Guisborough then went close in the sixty-seventh minute with Nick Hood combining with Joe Bartcliff, but his cross shot went just wide of the Benfield goal post.
The home team had cause for concern when in the sixty-ninth minute a foul by Jason Blackburn saw him get a second yellow card resulting in a red and a sending off.
The last ten minutes of the game was scrappy and only resulted in one save by either goalkeeper, this left the final score at 1-1.
Man of the Match … Kyle Errington.