(photo - Captain Jassim Alali is presented with a memento of his 100 appearances by Brian Close and Craig Bannister)

Both teams had picked up only one win apiece in 2016 prior to this game and with sides at the bottom of the league gaining points lately, this was a must-win game.
Garforth began with the eleven players that finished the game impressively at Staveley the previous week.
Captian Jassim Alali was recognised before kick-off for achieving one hundred appearances for the Miners.

Early indications showed there was no way that Athersley would be in with a chance of repeating their five-nil thrashing of Garforth back in November. The visitors had few chances throughout a game that Town bossed for the most part.
Luke McCrum had a header cleared off the line as early as the fifth minute. This was followed by tester from Mark Simpson and Danny Harris.
After a lull in play, Garforth stepped up a few gears towards half time and could have taken the lead through a sustained spell of pressure. Jack McCarthy and Ashley Preece were denied by scrambled clearances as Athersley clung on for the break.

Garforth continued where they left off after half time and Simpson should have prodded in the opener, but any blushes he may have had were soon spared when McCrum reacted to an Athersley keeper fumble following a dangerous free-kick from Khalid Alali.

Athersley could have found themselves back in it when a rare break saw players queuing up at the back post, only to be denied by the quick thinking of Greg Kidd.
Thoughts of a comeback were killed off on seventy five minutes when Curtly Martin-Wyatt netted following a turbo-charged break involving Jassim and Harris. The flying wingers cut back to Mick Jones and despite his effort being saved, Martin-Wyatt was on hand to slot in Towns' second.

Substitute Tim Robertson ensured the Miners kept on the front foot in the last ten minutes of an impressive display with an all action cameo that saw him come close with three spectacular efforts.

The much needed (and deserved) victory gave Garforth a little breathing room from the pack at the foot of the table and it should be confident side that travel to Parkgate in search of back-to-back wins.