Halifax and Guiseley both suffer setbacks

Halifax were behind inside the first minute to Kenny Davis’s strike and Michael Cheek added a second after the restart.

The visitors had started the second half brightly after an underwhelming opening period, but the dismissal of Roberts halted any momentum built up.

If Roberts’s red card was the turning point, Cheek’s goal was the clincher, even with a quarter of the game remaining, as he pounced on hesitancy between Bencherif and Matty Brown before rounding Johnson and tapping home.

Guiseley were facing one of the favourites for promotion and looked set to claim a point.

York City loanee Emile Sinclair had the first chance of the game for Guiseley. His effort beat the goalkeeper but hit both posts and somehow did not cross the line.

Forest Green showed their threat when Elliot Frear breezed past the Guiseley defence but Dan Atkinson made a smart save.

Atkinson was impressive yet again in net, as he had been at the weekend, making a number of saves and communicating well with his defence.

Nicky Boshell saw an effort cleared off the line in the second half before Darren Carter forced Atkinson into a smart save,.

Guiseley’s best chance fell to Sinclair, whose curled effort smashed against the crossbar.

The visitors withstood the pressure and got the only goal when Brett Williams beat the offside trap and, despite Atkinson’s best efforts, his shot hit the crossbar and went in.