Garforth made it back to back victories in the league yesterday afternoon, in order to climb above the visiting Penistone Church to 4th place in the table. A large crowd turned up on Non-League day to watch the Miners pick up a valuable 3 points over another top side.

Both teams looked to take a hold of the game early doors with Garforth looking to get James Burgess down the right wing in the opening 2 minutes and Penistone applying some early pressure to win themselves a corner.
Penistone’s Jordan Coduri had the first effort of the game, sending a half volley from just within the left hand side of the area high and wide of Toby Wells’ net.

Garforth were second best in the opening 10 minutes, with their opponents controlling the majority of possession and keeping the home side pinned within their own half, although they had been wasteful with the ball and were yet to see an effort test Town’s ‘keeper.
Penistone won a string of corners 13 minutes into the game, the second of which was fortunate not to be turned home at the far post by Ryan Johnson who was left completely unmarked.

Dan Coupland was the first to get a shot off for Garforth, firing from an angle inside the area after Charlie Marshall laid the ball off, but the strike was blocked well by Wayne Hughes at the back for Penistone.
Garforth began to find their footing around the 20 minute mark, as the home side swung a few crosses into the area which caused some issues for the visitors.

Burgess managed to win Garforth a corner after dribbling along the by-line, and a scramble to hook the ball away resulted in Penistone goalkeeper Harry Ambler getting injured in the process. He was subsequently substituted for backup Chris Snaith.
Cameron Simpson got the better of Town’s right back Sam Leach and striker Josh Brown connected well with the deflected cross that followed, but his volley dragged wide of the right post 25 minutes into the game.

A big loss for Garforth came after the worrying sight of top scorer Burgess going down to the ground clutching his knee on the half hour mark. After struggling back to his feet following treatment, he was substituted for Matt Antcliff.
Town had another good chance after Sam Leach’s early delivery into the box fell to Charlie Marshall, but again Thomas Brennan did well to block his powerful effort.

Sam Barker moved into the striker position with Antcliff off to his right, which changed the dynamic of Garforth’s attacking play, who now seemed to be much more fluid going forward.
Penistone responded with a big chance of their own after 40 minutes, as Reece High’s header from inside the 6-yard box somehow didn’t find itself in the top right corner and glanced narrowly past the side netting.
However, Sam Barker punished this missed opportunity and fired Garforth into the lead a moment later from out of the blue.

Rinor Ejupi carried the ball from his own half and picked out Dan Coupland in a good area in the attacking third. Barker was played directly in on goal after Coupland flicked the ball on and his right footed finish flew in at Chris Snaith’s near post.
Garforth played some of their best football of the game following the opener, constantly looking to break down the flanks and winning a corner in the process.
That was all for the first period and the Miners headed into the break with a goal advantage.

The first chance of the second period fell to Charlie Marshall who struck a low effort to the near post after cutting inside from the right wing, but Snaith gathered his effort comfortably.
Tom Charlesworth found himself in space on the edge of the Garforth area and his curling effort forced Toby Wells into a good save for the first time of the afternoon.
Sam Barker was next to line up an effort as he created space for himself on the edge of Penistone’s area but launched a strong effort over the crossbar.

A Garforth corner on 54 minutes nearly saw the Miners double their lead, after Sam Denton’s inviting header into the 6-yard box was flicked onwards by Jamie Barkway, but Wayne Hughes managed to scramble the ball off the Penistone line.
Garforth had started the second half well on top, and Charlie Marshall was again unlucky not to grab himself a goal. The winger dribbled through half of the Penistone defence from the left flank and managed to get a shot off from a good area, but once more saw the ball cleared off the line.

With 65 minutes gone Sam Barker did very well to control the ball in the middle of the park and play Matt Antcliff through on goal, who took the ball round the goalkeeper and had an open net gaping in front of him, but tragically he lost his footing at the final second and failed to convert a golden opportunity before Penistone could clear his goal bound effort.

Garforth were sitting fairly comfortably despite only maintaining a one goal lead, and although Penistone did manage to create a handful of chances for themselves, with 80 minutes of the match played nothing had really troubled the Garforth goal.
After a fast-paced and energetic opening to the second half Garforth were now finding themselves cancelled out by Penistone or plain unlucky every time going forward, whilst Town’s defence put in a shift to keep their opponents at bay.

Penistone began to throw the kitchen sink at Garforth for the final few minutes. Rinor Ejupi made an excellent tackle in the final minute of regular time to prevent Tom Charlesworth being in on goal.
2 minutes of additional time were awarded, but it wasn’t long enough for Penistone to claw a goal back and the Miners held on to a well-deserved 3 points at home.

A good win for Paul Marshall’s side to put some more points on the board heading into the closing stages of the season. Garforth could have been 5 goals to the better on another day, but a calm and collected back line ensured that Toby Wells’ faced little danger and the Miners ran out deserved victors.

Attention now turns to Tuesday night’s fixture, as Garforth head into another top of the table clash that sees 2nd place Winterton Rangers make the journey to the Bannister Prentice stadium to take on the Town.