Wall

Nethermoor Park was taken over by the visiting Leeds United fans today, as Guiseley hosted their big league neighbours in a pre-season friendly. It made for an odd atmosphere as 12yo, 9yo and I squeezed into our seats in the home stand only to be surrounded by away fans. It was good natured enough though, and a fixture like this can inject some welcome thousands of pounds into a small club's coffers.

The place was packed with all tickets sold out  but that didn't stop a few enterprising folk scaling the wall at the back of the stand to make their entry.

At this stage of pre-season, Guiseley are still assembling their squad so there were no fewer that seven A. Trialist's on the team sheet, although a couple of those had featured last season. The gulf in class between the two teams was apparent from the kick-off, with Northern Ireland international Stuart Dallas curling in a shot after 17 seconds. Guiseley grew into the match a little, but it was 1-3 to Leeds at half-time and they added two more in the second period to leave a final score of 1-5.

Today's image sees the referee Andrew Millar pacing out the wall that Leeds were setting up to repel a Guiseley free-kick.

It was the first time I'd seen Leeds play - they looked to have quite a young and skilful squad and will be hoping to build on their improved showing last season to make a serious challenge for promotion. But as they know, the Championship is a difficult league to get out of.

For Guiseley, it's early days. They managed a great escape last season but could do with a better start if they are to keep their place in the National League beyond 17/18. But there are still seven friendlies to go before the season kicks off in earnest on August 5th.

And if you're interested in the butterfly score for the match: Small White 2, Red Admiral 1.