WITH the carrot of an away tie against Manchester United in the next round dangling in front of them, Guiseley Academy Under-18s just failed to make it to the Third Round of the FA Youth Cup when they took on Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park on Tuesday night.

The Young Lions however gave everything in a frenetic game in which Scunthorpe’s experience told in the end as they managed the game out well after scoring the only goal of the match in the 70th minute through Harrison Poulter.

The first-half had seen lots of chances for both sides, but miraculously the game was goalless at the break.

The last move of the opening half was ended with Guiseley’s Jakub Hebda in possession and bearing down on goal when the whistle went.

The second-half again saw both sides giving their all as they battled for the opening goal. Harrison Leigh did well to stop a good attack by the ever dangerous Sellars-Fleming while Hebda was showing some great touches at the other end.

To a man, the Guiseley side were giving their all but the breaks just did not go their way and they were very disappointed when Scunthorpe scored after getting a lucky break, with the ball rebounding off the tackling defender to Poulter’s feet and he didn’t need another invite.

Prior to this, Harry Glover had flicked the ball on to Hebda but the flag went up for off-side against Jayden John.

Glover saw a Scunthorpe defender acrobatically block his effort while Dexter Ball skewed an effort wide and Guiseley looked for a moment to maybe have a penalty when Josh Stones fell to the ground.

Guiseley had one last throw of the dice but we’re out of luck when Hebda’s effort almost beat the ‘keeper and the rebound fell to Stones whose whose effort was cleared off the line, hitting the post as it was cleared.

Guiseley players in all areas of the pitch rose to the challenge and could leave the field with their heads held high.

They now move on to rekindle their challenge for the National League U-19 North title with five wins from five games behind them.

And reflecting on the game, manager Dave Currie, said: "We're absolutely gutted as you can imagine because we had a tie against Manchester United awaiting us, but it just wasn't to be.

"On another day, we could have had a few goals but the ball just didn't seem to fall our way.

"I think the general feeling in the dressing room is low, but me and the staff are extremely proud of our boys because we played a good game and fought right until the end.

"It's just the small margins that work against you at these levels and I think that's exactly what happened in the match.

Currie added: "It's going to take a lot of time to forgot bout this but we will, that's for sure.

"We need to regroup and push on in the National League to continue the season in the best possible way.

"I've got full faith in my team . They're a great bunch, they've got a lot of heart and I have full belief that they will come back stronger.

"I am a proud coach."