Tadcaster Albion 2 Garforth Town 0

So the table toppers won as expected, but were made to work hard for their victory by an organised Garforth side without a recognised goalkeeper and regulars Andy Hawksworth, Tawanda Rupere and Jay Davis. And to add to all that the late arrival of Sam Akeroyd forcing a late change, Craig Tonkinson replacing him.

Under these bleak circumstances, in the first half Town pretty much parked the bus, with striker Nick Black a lone figure up front. Nearly all the chances fell to Tadcaster who had most of the possession, but poor finishing let them down. On two minutes Josh Barrett shot wide from just outside the box and shortly afterwards stand-in keeper Luke Mangham was brought into action, saving a powerful effort from Paddy Miller.

The Miners’ first of only two chances in the half came on 9 mins when Tim Robertson found Jamie Sutton in the box after some good play down the right, but put his shot well wide.

Five mins later The Brewers had a good chance from a free kick; Miller delivering the ball to Nick Thompson who headed wide from close range. Thompson probably should’ve done better on 22 mins when Miller found him again but could only blaze over the bar. On 33 mins Mangham made another save, this time from George Bissett, but two mins after a good chance came at the other end when Chris Simpkins delivered a free kick to Ashley Preece in the area who headed narrowly wide. The final chance of the half for either team fell to ex-Garforth striker David Brown in injury time when Jonathan Greening squared the ball to him but he could only skew wide.

Garforth created a few more chances second half with Sutton and Robertson causing problems down the flanks. Five minutes in, Sutton went down the right and picked out Robertson who headed at keeper Peter Lawrie under pressure from a defender. On 60 mins the game looked to be evening out as The Miners had their best spell of the afternoon. Brilliant work on the left by Robertson saw him leave Bissett for dead and find Black in the box but sadly the ball struck his arm before he got his shot away and a free-kick was awarded. Soon after, a decent corner kick from Simpkins wasn’t dealt with by Lawrie and deflected towards goal but the players just couldn’t capitalise and the ball was cleared off the line.

Most of the amassed crowd of 398 (really?) hadn’t had much to shout about but unfortunately for us they did on 67 mins, when the North Yorkshire side finally took the lead. A ball in from sub Vincent Dhesi found Bissett in the box who had time to finish past Mangham.

Four mins later Graham made a triple substitution to try and get us back into the game, but on 78 mins Albion had their second. A cross from Liam Ormsby picked out sub Carl Stewart who’s header found the net through the hands of Mangham. His only mistake in another creditable display between the sticks.

The game was pretty much gone but the lads never gave up and on 85 mins Simpkins cut inside to Black who forced a good stop from Lawrie with a low strike. On 90 mins Sutton made a good run down the right to supply new signing Spencer Lund who shot narrowly wide.

A brave display from the lads under the circumstances, and full of the team spirit which was perhaps lacking in some other games recently. The problem of unavailability of key players is not new and remains concerning, but overall an improvement on the last two and a few things to build on for Barton at home on Tuesday.