Pickering picked off Garforth with some clinical finishing and although the Miners created some good chances and were on the wrong end of a few “iffy” offside calls, the Pikes were deserved winners.

Curtly Martin-Wyatt, Sinmi Oyebanji, Ashley Preece and Danny Harris were among the players out for this game. New signings George Conway and Oliver Smith went straight into the starting eleven.

Garforth started as brightly (if not brighter) than the boys in blue and the new signings were at the centre of some of Towns' best work.

Two goals in the space of five minutes by Callum Ward and James Bennet put the Pikes into a comfort zone that they were able to build on after the break.
Bennett was booked for a reckless challenge in the second half that ended Spencer Lunds' participation in the game. Had Referee Tony Peart acted similarly to his first half lunge on Jordan Outerbridge, perhaps the Pikes may have finished the game a player light.

Mitchell Hamiltons' goal on sixty three minutes laid to rest any thoughts of a comeback.
Ben Hunter, back between the sticks after a couple of games out, was back at the scene of one of his best Garforth performances and he once again pulled off a string of outstanding stops, without which the result could have been worse.

Joe Danby hit a late brace to rub salt in the wounds, but to the Miners' credit they played to the end and even gave the fans a goal to cheer when Conway calmly slotted away a consolation. The dynamic front man had twice earlier been denied by Toby Wells, but eventually got his reward.

Garforth will hope to have some squad members returning for their next game - just the small matter of a trip to league leaders Worksop Town.
A perfect chance to put in the performance of the season!