Staveley MW 0 Garforth 3

A superb counter-attacking display gave Town the points in a game where our opponents had most of the possession and chances.

The first effort on target of the evening fell to Staveley's Kurtis Morley on 17 mins, shooting straight at Ben Hunter from 20 yards. Four mins later Ellis Wall came close when getting on the end of Jack Poulton's delivery but stabbed over the crossbar.

Garforth's first chance came on 24 mins when Luke Mangham found space and beat Sam Finlaw but put a low shot wide. Morley nearly found an opener for Welfare three mins later when put through on the left but was denied by a defensive block in the six-yard box. Half an hour in and the same man put a powerful strike just wide.

Some good attacking play from Garforth saw Ashley Preece venture forward and put in a great challenge to win the ball, but also shot wide. The opening goal came on 42 mins and it was Sam Jones who created it, making a brilliant run down the right, his low shot from a narrow angle was parried by keeper Steve Hernandez to an awaiting Mark Simpson who slotted home.

At half time the home side kicked off and went straight onto the offensive, a corner three mins in wasn't dealt with by Hunter with Jones making a clearance almost off the line.

Staveley are a good footballing side, making good use of the flanks, but often the final ball was lacking. In an intense spell of pressure Finlaw probably should've done better on 58 mins when set up by Damien Magee but shot well over. Shortly after Jordan Eagers had a low effort deflected wide and Hunter was there to block Brad Jones' powerful volley for another corner.

The Derbyshire side were also dangerous from the many set-pieces they received over the course of the evening and will be disappointed in not making any of them count. Seemingly to sum things up it was couple of our own which in turn created our second goal. A free kick won on 77 mins saw Jones' strike deflected wide for a corner, which the same man stepped up to take. He duly delivered the ball on a plate for Mangham to head in at the near post.

To the home side's credit they still looked to get forward and the win wasn't in the bag yet. However quality in front of goal was lacking or attacks were scuppered altogether by a resolute Miners defence. Another spell of pressure around the 80 min mark saw Poulton's inswinging ball hit the top of the crossbar. Two breaks forward in quick succession ended in Jahmal Smith denied by the feet of Hunter and then Alali made an excellent block to deny Morley. And then a succession of corners five minutes later; Hunter saving Eagers' far post header and then sub Russ Goodwin heading wide.

Once again Town's response to weathering the storm was to go up the other end and score a third. On 90 mins Mark Simpson added his second of the game, racing past one defender and turning another inside out before firing in past Hernandez.

A smash and grab some might argue given the home side's possession and higher number of chances created. But that would be to ignore a number of excellent performances across the Garforth team and some clinical finishing. Another game and another upset, and just in time for the big derby game on Saturday.