THERE will sadly be no FA Youth Cup derby between Guiseley and Bradford (Park Avenue), after the latter lost their first round qualifying tie 2-0 at Sheffield FC.
So instead it is the South Yorkshire side, the oldest in the world, who will be playing Dave Currie’s young Lions next.
Guiseley won their tie with ease, beating Emley 5-0 in front of 200 spectators, the first fans to witness a game at Nethermoor in over six months.
This was very much a new Guiseley side, as the FA Youth Cup is an Under-18 competition. This thus excluded many of the players who played for the team which was heading for the title in the newly inaugurated National Academy League U-19 Super League before Covid-19 struck.
Guiseley set off at a fast pace and opened the scoring in the fourth minute against Emley when Darwin King rode a tackle in the penalty area and fired the ball into the far corner of the net.
The Lions made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute when lively right-back Josh Calvert netted with a great strike.
They extended their lead to 3-0 in the 34th minute when the impressive Ethan Hudson-Parker found the net.
In the second half, Guiseley were not tempted to sit on their lead and pressed on, with centre-back Harrison Leigh keeping a calm head and putting in some great tackles as Emley tried to get back into the game.
Hudson-Parker completed a fine performance by him with his second goal when he fired in from a rebound.
The scoring was completed by Jake Charles in the 90th minute to end what was a very encouraging night for Currie and his side.
After the game, it was announced that 18 year-old stopper Hagie Damba had signed first team forms with the club.
Damba made 12 appearances for the academy last season and has impressed joint first team managers Russ O’Neill and Marcus Bignot during the warm-up matches for the 2020/21 campaign.
Hagie joins Brad Wade, who recently signed on loan from Rochdale, and Declan Lambton in the goalkeeping ranks, with Lambton currently enjoying a youth loan spell at Albion Sports.
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