Garforth 1 Barton Town 0

A Mark Simpson penalty earned Garforth a first win in ten games against twelfth-place Barton.

After being a tad unlucky to come away empty-handed from Staveley a fortnight ago, this was a solid display from Rob Hunter's side who, whilst at times lacking quality in the final third, showed bags of character to move eleven points clear of relegation.

Returning midfielder Mick Jones went straight into the first eleven, as did new signing Jordan Chippendale who put in a promising display at right-back, a position Town have struggled to fill this season. Lee Turner returned from a recent knee-infection to form a centre-back partnership with captain James Beaston, and Kane Bingley also returned after being unavailable for the Staveley visit, replacing Sam Barker.

On two minutes there was a half-chance for Sean Hunter when pouncing on a misplaced pass by a Barton defender, but sadly couldn't take advantage. Shortly after that, Mark Simpson looked to have been pushed in the area when getting on the end of Mick Jones' free-kick, but referee Leo Howard waved away the appeals. Straight down the other end, a tricky Donald Chimolilo got down the right and teed up Jamie Goddard just inside the box who fired over the crossbar. There followed further chances for the visitors, but their finishing let them down. Goddard got another sight of goal on 14 mins when beating his man on the left, but his resulting effort was into the side netting. Tom Waudby's 20 yard effort brought a routine save from Toby Wells, then the Miners stopper held ex-Town defender (and seasoned scorer against us) Matt Plummer's header from a corner, before Will Waudby's turn and shot was across the face of the goal and wide.

There were appeals for a Barton penalty on 22 mins when Goddard went down under the challenge of Matthew Wilkinson, but Mr Howard again waved play on. The resulting goal-kick did however produce a spot kick when Hunter was brought down on the edge of the area by Plummer. After consulting with his linesman who'd flagged for an offence, the initially unconvinced Mr Howard pointed to the spot. Simpson thus stepped up and coolly sent Barton keeper Sam Riches the wrong way to open the scoring. In a scrappy half, there was one more chance of note two minutes before the break when Goddard got on the end of Will Waudby's dangerous ball in, but rifled over the top.

The opening minutes of the second half saw Brad Freer's curling strike saved, then Will Waudby's inswinging free-kick diverted wide of goal by Wells. Captain James Beaston put a low shot just off-target on 52 mins when Michael Thompson's long-range effort was blocked on the edge of the box. Ten minutes after that, Hunter saw his turn and shot blocked on the line after Simpson forced a save from a stranded Riches. Will Waudby went close to claiming an equaliser when his half-volley from Owen Marshall's cross went narrowly wide, then down the other end Riches made a good save to tip a Simpson 25-yard strike onto the roof of the net.

There followed a lengthy stoppage on 73 mins when Tom Waudby came off worse in a crunching challenge with Williams. An ambulance had to be called for the stricken midfielder who suffered a suspected broken ankle. Let's hope he's back playing the beautiful game soon. The game restarted after a delay of around forty minutes, ex-Garforth midfielder Matthew Savage replacing Waudby as part of a double substitution.

The visitors continued their search for an equalizer, but Town stood firm. Wells did brilliantly to divert wide Eddy Birch's long range effort, before saving from Chimalolo after a cross from the left bobbled around the box.

The Miners are next in action here at Bannister Prentice Stadium next Saturday when we entertain Handsworth Parramore (kick-off 3pm).

You can relive yesterday's game courtesy of Barton's FM's live commentary, available via @thegarforthtown.

Rob's views on the victory can be found on The Bootiful Game.