GUISBOROUGH Town’s hopes of crowning what has been an excellent season overall by winning the North Riding Senior Cup were dashed by an impressive young Middlesbrough Under-21 Reserves side at the KGV Stadium on Monday.

The plucky Priorymen never stopped running and trying all night, but the Boro side’s superior fitness and all-round professionalism was just too much for them.

The final was Guisborough's ninth game in 19 days – almost one match every other day over a hectic two and a half-week period – and such a punishing end-of-season schedule was bound to take its toll.

In front of a healthy crowd of 440, Boro almost scored in the opening seconds when Guisborough keeper Nick Liversedge had to be alert to keep out a long-range shot from Tinkler straight from the kick-off. Boro continued to call the shots, with efforts from Arnel Jakupovic and Alex Pattison going close to giving the visitors the lead.

Guisborough’s first worthy effort on goal came on the half-hour when a low Steve Snaith shot that was heading for the corner of the net was palmed away for a corner by keeper Luke Coddington.

Boro finally made their pressure on the Guisborough goal tell on 38 minutes when Pattison cut into the penalty area and hooked the ball over the advancing Liversedge and into the net. Then, almost on half-time, Guisborough’s hopes were shattered when the dangerous Jakupovic smashed the ball into the roof of the net to double Boro’s lead.

In the second half, Guisborough weathered further Boro pressure well and started to mount their own attacks, with a Curtis Round effort on 53 minutes producing a smart save from Coddington.

On 61 minutes, Guisborough at last got the breakthrough they desperately wanted when Pete Bulmer, having one of his best games, lashed home from 12 yards to inspire hopes of a famous comeback among the KGV faithful.

But, just eight minutes later, Jakupovic scored with another stunning strike to restore Boro’s two-goal cushion and clinch the North Riding Senior Cup for the 55th time in Middlesbrough’s history.

Judging by the performance of the young Boro side, the future for newly-promoted Middlesbrough looks as bright as their Under-21 side’s yellow shirts. The consensus around the KGV after the match was that, of the three Boro teams Guisborough have played in the last three North Riding Senior Cup finals, this side was the strongest so far.

Guisborough manager Steve Dowling said: "To be fair to my players, they stuck at it and battled right up until the end and I cannot have anything but praise for my players, who have played nine games in 19 days, but kept trying right to the final whistle.”

Guisborough play their final match of the season this evening in the return derby against Marske at the KGV Stadium.

Victory would guarantee the Priorymen third place in the league to crown a very satisfactory season.