THE Cobbydalers hosted Northern League side Guisborough Town on Saturday in the FA Vase Second Round Qualifying, slumping to a 5-3 defeat that perhaps flattered them.
Guisborough were 5-1 up with 15 minutes to go, but then their full back Brian Close was shown a straight red card, which allowed the Cobbydalers to claw back a couple of late goals.
Silsden manager Danny Forrest made two changes from the team that beat Goole the previous week.
Centre forward Antony Brown, who was unavailable, was replaced by Chris Wademan, while Leon Hurles-Brook came in for Robbie Fox, who was on the bench.
After a quiet start, the opening goal came for the visitors, when a swift counter attack caught the Cobbydalers defence on the back foot.
Brandon Holdsworth chased a long ball down, before rounding Ben Higginson in the Silsden goal to give the Priorymen an early lead on 12 minutes.
Khurram Shazad and Joe Mitchell both had chances to equalise for Silsden, but fired shots over the crossbar, and the hosts were punished for their profligacy after half an hour.
The defence had pushed up but were caught out when Holdsworth chased down a long ball. Higginson managed to parry his shot but Sonni Coleman followed up to make it 2-0.
Mitchell was working hard in midfield to create some openings and, after a good run, he found Shazad, who hit a peach of a curler into the Guisborough net to halve the deficit.
Wademan then ran on to a pass from Hurles-Brook, cut inside his marker and hit a low shot which Jaan Yaqub managed to save.
Five minutes before the break, Mitchell fired in a screamer, but Yaqub made an even better save at full stretch to prevent the equaliser.
After all the pressure they had withstood, the Priorymen broke away. Holdsworth latched on to a lovely ball from Josh Rowbotham and slid the ball to Coleman, who missed an absolute sitter.
Silsden did not heed that warning though, and a minute later, Coleman opened up the defence, finding Holdsworth, who scored to make it 3-1 at half-time.
The opening exchanges of the second half were scrappy, before Shazad began to shine.
A mazy run from the halfway line saw him weave his way past four defenders. He shot powerfully but was denied by a fine save from Yaqub. His next effort flew over the bar after good work by Hurles-Brook.
But soon enough, once again, the Silsden defence went missing.
Matthew Garbutt swung over a free-kick into the Silsden box and the unmarked Coleman headed in the fourth.
Hurles-Brook was unlucky not to pull one back when he ran through the middle of the defence, only to see his shot hit the crossbar.
Coleman then almost netted his third, but was denied by a fine save from Higginson, before going on to complete his hat-trick and make it 5-1 on 70 minutes.
Close's 76th minute red card came too late to affect the result, but it did mean Silsden ended the game well on top.
Hurles-Brook had a shot saved, before substitute Dan Illingworth, playing as a target man, made a nuisance of himself in the area, allowing Shazad to fire one into the bottom corner on 83 minutes.
Two minutes later, Mitchell curled one home to make it 5-3.
Mason McNeill nearly made it six for Guisborough, but fired wide on the break, before Arley Barnes almost hit a fourth for Silsden, shooting inches wide.
That was the last chance of the game, and it is Guisborough who advance to the next round, where they will host Runcorn Town.
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