A WET and windy Nethermoor had the mood dampened further as Guiseley suffered a 2-0 defeat to Southport and striker Shaun Tuton was carried off on a stretcher.

The Lions came into this fixture with just two victories in their last eight, but their situation didn’t improve as goals from Marcus Carver and Joshua Hmami sentenced the West Yorkshire side to back-to-back defeats.

Joint manager Russ O’Neill was left frustrated by his sides performance, saying: “We need to be careful with this, because with our last couple of games and with the Ashton game we started well before giving a soft goal away, and I speak about momentum quite a lot. We started well in the first few minutes and then we make some stupid, horrendous basic decisions and it puts us on the back front as a young team. And we struggle when we’re on the back foot and momentum goes against us, we find it hard to get back on top and we really need to nail that.”

O’Neill went on to address his team’s league position, with the Lions currently sitting just one position above the relegation zone: “Obviously our league position is a concern, we’d like to be a lot higher up in the division but we know where we are falling short and if we’re going to carry on like this then one or two things might need to change, but it was a horrendous evening and probably our worst performance of the season.”

Guiseley got off to a promising start at Nethermoor, as Lewis Hey delivered a teasing cross onto the head of captain Hamza Bencherif, whose header trickled wide.

Southport were eager to impress early on too, with Declan Lambton being called into action before Carver would eventually punish some sloppy defending by tapping home from two yards out.

Jordan Thewlis, who would later on pick up a hamstring injury, struck the post before the referee called the ball back for a controversial offside.

Rotherham United loanee Jake Hull came close to finding an equaliser on the 25 minute mark, as a cannoned effort from the edge of the box fizzed wide of the target.

On the verge of half-time Southport looked to double their advantage, as Jordan Archer scuffed an effort well wide of the target despite having only Lambton to beat.

But the Port would eventually have their second breakthrough through former Accrington Stanley midfielder Hmami, who confidently disposed of his chance in fantastic style.

Heading into the second half, Hmami came within inches to grasping his second of the night, after beating Lambton but youngster Oliver Brown was present on the line to recover and sweep clear.

Connor Woods took aim from 20 yards but only saw his audacious strike whisp wide, before the match was forced to be stopped for a lengthy amount of time due to Tuton’s injury, causing the former Barnsley and Grimsby Town attacker to be removed from the field of play on a stretcher.

O’Neill commented on Tuton’s injury, saying: “He’s took himself off to hospital, we called for an ambulance and he’s going to be there for hours so all we can do is wish him the best and hope he’s alright.”

Guiseley are next in action on Saturday, with a difficult trip to Northamptonshire to face title challengers Brackley Town.

The latter are chasing top spot, and know a victory would put them in touching distance.