Emley 1 Garforth 1

Fullback Sam Leach returned to the first eleven, allowing Alex Zachariou to replace Duke Witter in the number eleven jersey, who in turn took a seat on the bench.

Jamie Barkway almost gave Garforth an early lead; his downward header from a right wing cross inadvertently blocked by Sam Barker. William Norcross then nearly put the hosts ahead with a speculative effort from the halfway line which went just over the crossbar. The same man had a big hand in putting his side ahead on ten minutes - delivering the ball to Iyrwah Gooden in the box who turned his man and smashed the ball into the bottom corner. Few chances followed for either side prior to the break in what was a scrappy and physical half of football. The Miners toiled up front, with Barker a lonely figure at times, but our defence managed to keep the scoreline to 1-0, with Toby Wells' save from Gooden at close range on 43 mins the only time Emley came close to making it two.

Both sides enjoyed good spells in the second half - Wells was forced to punch clear an inswinging free kick on 50 mins before the rebound was put over the bar. Around the hour mark Gooden, who was enjoying space on the left, put in a dangerous ball across the face of goal which was just in front of a sliding Ruben Jerome, then Wells denied ex-Town midfielder Paul Walker's header at the near post.

The introduction of Duke Witter for Tabish Hussain sparked an immediate response from Paul Marshall's side who finally started to ask real questions of their opponents. Barker was denied by a defender's challenge in the goalmouth after some good play by Dexter Ball and Witter, then Matt Antcliff shot just beyond the far post after a nice ball in from the right. Witter then provided our first shot on target of the game when forcing Declan Lambton to tip a rising strike over the bar. Our equalizer followed on 75 mins when Lambton denied Barker deep inside the box, the rebound finding Antcliff who was on hand to sweep into the far corner.

By this time substitute Jason Davis had entered the fray and showed the typical directness seasoned Garforth fans remember from his first spell here. He saw a shot deflected wide when supplied by another Witter foray down the right. Barker then fired over the bar when finding himself free on the edge of the box, before Witter likewise shot over from a narrow angle after Lambton denied Barker once again.

All of this looked to be for nought when Jerome twisted and turned his way through the Town defence to find himself free on the edge of the box, but there was relief for visiting fans when he dragged his low shot narrowly wide.

Both sides had had chances for a winner, but ended up sharing the points for a third consecutive meeting at the Welfare Ground. A solid point on the road for The Miners who seek a first win in FA Cup football for four years this Saturday when we make the journey north to Whitley Bay (kick-off 3pm).