Starts were given to Ben Small in midfield and David Brown up front. Adam Priestley and returnees from injury Ben Thornton, Andy Villerman and Darren Kelly were amongst the substitutes. Due to Durham’s home strip of yellow/blue halves, neither our home or away kits were deemed suitable so the players took to the field in unfamiliar all white.

Both teams attacked from the off, the earliest big chance coming for Durham on 6 mins when the ball was fed to Stephen Thompson on the right. Thompson went into the area and tried to place across Town custodian Ben Higginson but the keeper got a hand to the ball and defender Rob Pacey managed to clear the danger.

The hosts played a fast and accurate passing game which was to regularly trouble our defence for the rest of the game. In the first half Town were finding the most joy down the left flank where Paul Walker was. Walker almost put us ahead on 15 mins when the ball was played to him on the edge of the box, his shot was turned round the post by City keeper Lewis Graham.

Five mins later we did go ahead. A free kick was won on the half way line, which was played straight into the area by Lawrance Hunter – his curling ball finding Pacey who headed in over the advancing keeper.

On 25 mins Gary Shaw won the ball from captain Milton Turner and fed it through to David Dowson in the 18 yard box but the striker was denied by Higginson’s legs.

An equaliser wasn’t far away though. A City move down the left flank eventually came to midfielder Stephen Thompson who slotted home from a tight angle on 28 mins.

Only a minute later the Miners put themselves 2-1 up. Almost straight after the restart a City ball forward was headed back by Pacey, the ball coming via Chris Walton and Walker to David Brown. Brown charged into the area, his first shot was parried by Graham only to find the striker again who made no mistake on the second attempt.

In a frantic three minutes though the home side once again put themselves on level terms. On 31 mins the ball was worked down the right, David Dowson and Elliot Cutts exchanging passes before Dowson fired past Higginson.

The impressive Dowson was a thorn in our side throughout the game and forced another save from Higginson on 36 mins when played in by Jack Pounder.

On 38 mins the away side gave themselves the advantage again which on this occasion would last to half time. Walker received the ball from a throw in on the right and found Brown via the head of a defender, Brown charging into the box and beating Graham for his second (3-2).

City were unfortunate not to equalise with two big chances close to the end of the half. Higginson tipped a Thompson free-kick over the bar. Cutts headed against the post from the resulting corner.

Garforth started the second half slowly and struggled to get Walker involved and also to deal with Durham’s aerial threat. On the other hand the home side went onto their most dangerous phase of the game, giving the Town defence a torrid time. Only five minutes in; from a City goal kick the ball was fed through midfield to Pounder in the box who unselfishly squared to Dowson to find the net and level things again (3-3).

One chance we did create in this period of the game came on 67 mins when a move down the right involving Turner and Brown saw a cross come to Ben Small just inside the area but he headed narrowly wide.

The pressure from the home side eventually told on 73 mins, disappointingly from a Town corner. The ball was worked quickly down the right, Thompson beating Jamie Price and finding Dowson who nipped in between defenders to fire home for his hattrick.

The home side had come back from a goal down again and were now ahead for the first time in the game. Some of the away support thought we were heading for defeat. Matt Mathers was introduced on 76 mins for Hunter to add some tenacity. Town started putting more pressure on the City goal and in a topsy turvy encounter there was to be one more CSI-esque plot twist to come.

88 mins saw this time a Garforth equaliser! From a thrown in on the right the ball was eventually played to Mathers in the box, his effort was parried by Graham but Brown was on hand to place home the loose ball for his own hattrick (4-4).

In those circumstances a draw would’ve been a good result, but The Miners still weren't finished. On 90 mins a Town attack was cleared out of the box by Gary Brown only to find Chris Walton 20 yards out who smashed home an absolute screamer, giving the keeper no chance. The ex-Wakefield man had been threatening such a goal since joining the club a few weeks ago and what a time for his efforts to come good.

Four minutes of injury time followed but the home side couldn’t find the answer and the Miners recorded a dramatic victory. As seen most notably in the games against Witton at home and Farsley away this season the lads never give up and despite probably not being at their best on this afternoon made it four wins in four and joint top scorers in the division in the process.

One worry was an injury to substitute Adam Priestley late in the game meaning he had to be replaced himself after half an hour on the field. Here’s hoping Town’s top scorer won’t be out for long.