An emphatic Stockton Town performance sees the Anchors take down Guiseley in the first home game of the 2024/25 season.Michael Dunwell named an unchanged line-up to the one that defeated Leek Town on Saturday afternoon, but Mikey Roberts returned to the bench after an illness caused him to miss out at the weekend.It was the Anchors who immediately started off as the better side, and nearly found a lead after three minutes when Stephen Thompson tried to catch Joe Cracknell off-guard with a long-shot but the Guiseley goalkeeper was at full-stretch to meet it.Nathan Harker was the next goalkeeper to make a strong save, when the Stockton number one got down quickly to meet a powered header following a corner.But the deadlock was broken in the 13th minute when a lofted through ball from Stephen Thompson caused problems between the Guiseley goalkeeper and centre back, leading to Michael Sweet coming away with the ball and finishing into an empty net.Joshua Baggs was next to have a good chance to extend the advantage, but a first-time volley sailed over the crossbar.However in the 40th minute, the Anchors did double their advantage when Lewis Leech forced a save out of Cracknell, but the goalkeeper only pushed his save to the feet of Michael Sweet who powered the rebound home for his second of the game.Half-time: Stockton Town 2-0 GuiseleyThe visitors started off the better side after the interval as they pushed to get back into the game, but were quickly pushed back when Adam Nicholson’s crossed was adjudged to have hit the hand of a defender, and Stockton were awarded a penalty.Stephen Thompson stepped up to take the spot-kick and made no mistake in firing low past Cracknell, who guessed the right way, to further extend the lead early in the second half.Guiseley continued to push forward after the Anchors’ third, but weren’t creating any dangerous chances to really challenge Nathan Harker.Harker’s standout save of the game came in the 79th minute when he dived at full stretch to keep out a curling effort that looked destined for the top corner.The game wasn’t without its late drama however, Owen Gallacher was shown a red card after his second yellow of the evening following a late challenge on Adriano Moke.Guiseley took advantage of the extra man advantage and pulled a goal back in added time when Jack Emmett converted a cross from close range, but it wasn’t enough to force a late comeback and the Anchors made it two wins from two to open their debut NPL Premier Division season.Full-time: Stockton Town 3-1 GuiseleyThe Anchors find themselves top of the table after the opening two games, as they await the visit of fellow new-faces Prescot Cables on Saturday afternoon.Stockton Town: Harker, King, Baggs, Painter, Nicholson, Coulthard, Leech (Johnson 77’), Butterworth, Sweet (Beddow 77’), Thompson (Fowler 65’), Gallacher Unused subs: Roberts, SpearsGuiseley: Cracknell, Odunston (Brown 77’), Kendall (Emmett 56’), Ible, Mbeka, Lawlor, Lufudu, Ekpolo, Thewlis, Ackroyd (Johnson 56’), Longbottom (Moke 58’)Unused subs: WaltersGoals: Sweet, 15 min, 1-0; Sweet, 41 min, 2-0; Thompson (p), 54 min, 3-0; Emmett, 90+2 min, 3-1Attendance: 907Words: Jordan ClarkePhoto: Harry Cook