GUISELEY bounced back from their gut-wrenching 1-0 defeat against Boston United at the weekend to record a vital 3-1 home win over Blyth Spartans in National League North last night.

On Saturday, Guiseley paraded new signing John Johnstone at Nethermoor, while Boston played Brad Nicholson, who had joined them from the Lions that week.

He joined former Guiseley players Marcus Dewhurst and James Hanson in a Boston squad now managed by former Lions boss Paul Cox.

Guiseley, boosted by the return of Kaine Felix, out since September, and the inclusion of English Schools captain Josh Stones and centre-back Andy Hollins, produced an assured performance in a scrappy encounter.

However, just as it appeared that they would get a share of the points, a defensive lapse by Hamza Bencherif gifted Scott Pollock the winner with three minutes to go.

But to their credit, they did not carry the hangover from that into last night's encounter against their North-East visitors, with the 3-1 win taking them four points clear of the drop.

A vastly improved performance from Guiseley saw them dominate the game against Blyth, and they quickly built up a 2-0 lead with two fine goals from recent signing James Gale.

Dom Tear made it three with 20 minutes left, with Robbie Dale's late goal a mere consolation for Spartans.

Gale, Tear, Andy Kellett and Ollie Brown all returned to the starting line-up and Guiseley were soon on the front foot, with Felix making some thrusting runs into Blyth territory.

In the sixth minute, Felix went through on goal but his attempted chip over keeper Alex Mitchell was caught by the custodian.

Play was end-to-end for a spell and Blyth fired a shot straight at Guiseley 'keeper Owen Mason who went on to have an outstanding game.

After just 18 minutes, Guiseley lost skipper Bencherif to injury, and he was replaced by Hollins.

Guiseley opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when Gale made a lovely weaving run into the area and finished superbly.

Just two minutes later, the young striker made it 2-0 when a free-kick was whipped into the area and he powered the ball home.

The Lions gained a corner in the 38th minute and the ball was eventually cleared by Blyth, before new signing John Johnstone whipped a ball in that Mitchell saved just before the break.

Blyth made a good start to the second-half, but Mason got his gloves on a low shot before then making another good save.

The rebound from the second effort was fired into the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

Guiseley extended their lead in the 70th minute when Felix produced some great work on the ball, before striking it towards goal.

His effort eventually dropped nicely for Tear, who slotted home.

Blyth then pulled a goal back thanks to a stunning free-kick from Dale in the 75th minute.

Tear was replaced by Regan Hutchinson on 77 minutes as Guiseley tried to tighten up at the back.

Their final substitution saw Stones replace the lively Felix for the dying minutes of the game.

It was a well-earned three points for relegation-threatened Guiseley and the performance gave them something to build on as they face a glut of games.

They visit Leamington on Saturday followed by a home game against fellow strugglers AFC Telford United next Tuesday.