Garforth 2 Pickering Town 4

Our visitors were first out of the blocks, with Ben Hunter being tested in the first minute. Hunter parried Lewis Taylor's strike out to Ash Hope who fired over the bar. Only three mins later though the Pikes had the lead. A right wing corner was flicked on to Callum Ward who headed in at the back post.

Garforth's first chance of the evening fell to new signing Alex Jones who shot straight at goalkeeper Toby Wells after being supplied by Ashley Preece. On 14 mins the Miners somehow avoided going 2-0 down after Ward was let in to put a low shot which squirmed under Hunter, but the Garforth defence managed to clear off the line. Hunter was involved again on 27 mins to deny Ward with his feet after his defence were unable to clear their lines.

Curtly Martin-Wyatt had starting to cause problems for the Pickering backline and on 37 mins was involved in our best spell of the half. Wells got down to save a powerful drive from the striker and shortly after made a brilliant save to deny Danny Harris' low effort from the edge of the box. The final chance of the half fell to Joe Danby for Pickering who's free kick was tipped over by Hunter.

Pickering had been the best side in the first half and had they scored a second nobody could really have argued. The introduction of Sinmi Oyebanji at the break however gave Town an injection of flair and by the time the second came about we were very much on top. Liam Hardey tested Wells from 20 yards early in the half and on 54 mins Wells made a save at his near post from debutee Khalid Alali. It was from a questionable free-kick on the left when Pickering doubled their lead, Sam Lingard delivering to Lewis Taylor who found the net through Hunter's legs.

Heads didn't drop however and the introduction of Jordan Outerbridge on 73 mins stirred a spirited fightback. On 78 mins good work between Preece and Martin-Wyatt down the left saw a cross come off a defender's heel to Oyebanji who found the net. Having already been booked, Matty Turnbull was lucky to stay on the field after a bad challenge on Outerbridge 20 yards from goal. Sadly Tim Robertson couldn't take advantage, firing the resulting free kick over the bar. Good work by Harris and Preece on 84 mins resulted in the latter forcing another stop from Wells.

Two mins later our scorer turned provider; chasing a seemingly lost cause down the right he managed to find Martin-Wyatt who turned his man and fired into the far corner to spark jubilant celebrations. With our visitors seemingly tiring, could The Miners hang on for a brave draw?

Such is Garforth's luck at the minute it just wasn't to be. The board went up for a head-scratching five mins of injury time. From a Pikes free-kick deep into the box, a goalmouth scramble ended in sub Ged Dalton poking home to restore his side's lead. A stricken Hunter required treatment but Town protests that he'd been fouled came to nothing. In the fourth minute of added time a somewhat flattering fourth goal was scored, Dalton receiving the ball on the left and grabbing his second with a fine curling strike into the far corner. In the last kick of the game things were summed up when Preece was denied the goal his efforts deserved by the crossbar.

A much improved performance nonetheless from Adie Costello's side who showed themselves capable of causing problems up front. The problem of conceding at the back isn't lost on our manager however, and he has already acted by signing a new central defender who should make his debut on Saturday.