Silsden came to the Bannister Prentice Stadium as the league leaders in the NCEL Premier Division, but were no longer top by the end of the afternoon courtesy of a convincing scoreline from Garforth, who are now sixth.

Town took the lead in the third minute after some positive work down the left wing by Charlie Marshall, making his first start since returning to the club from his spell with Scarborough Athletic. Marshall’s trickery was followed by a square ball across the box, which Connolly collected before finishing on the rebound of his own initial shot.

Garforth kept up the pressure, with Jordan Emery – this time playing as a left-back – switched the play for Jason Davis, who set up Marshall for a shot that was blocked by a defender.

At the other end, former Garforth forward Casey Stewart’s shot was deflected behind for a corner. Next, for Town, a Davis shot from outside the box was saved by Kyle Trenerry.

Midway through the first half, Silsden defender Spencer Harris headed wide after a corner, which was the culmination of a bit of pressure from set pieces by the visitors.

Within the last 10 minutes before the break, Stewart had another shot blocked, and a free kick by Davis was saved by Trenerry.

Davis also had the first chance of the second half, drilling the ball wide across goal. Soon after, Silsden striker Kayle Price shot wide from outside the box. Next, Harry Flatters was called into action to save a left-footed shot by Luke Brooksbank.

After the game had entered its final 20 minutes, Harris sent a shot into the Strawberry Fields behind the Garforth goal. A few minutes later, Barker turned and clipped the ball through for Marshall, whose eventual shot went wide.

Barker again teed up Marshall with a long ball over the top, but the no.7 ran out of an angle to aim for by the time it came to shoot.

Next, Marshall had a shot saved by Trenerry’s feet after finding an opening, but as the play recycled, it ended up with Barker, who from the left-hand side was able to get in shooting range and score to make it 2-0.

A pair of subs combined for Garforth when Sam Denton headed across a set piece back for Lee Turner, but his own header dropped wide.

A volley from the edge of the box by Stewart was blocked next, before Garforth extended their lead to 3-0 when Rinor Ejupi finished off after reacting to a rebound from an Alex Zachariou effort, thus like Connolly and Barker scoring for a second consecutive Saturday (which has doubled his overall tally for the club).

Five minutes of added time were signalled, but the clock eventually ticked over to 10 minutes beyond the 90 because of a break in play when Flatters suffered an injury, but was able to continue after his head was bandaged by Paul Cavell.

Flatters was able to divert behind a long shot by Cody Cromack and his defenders subsequently denied an Adam Clayton header becoming dangerous after the resulting corner.

That was pretty much that, which meant the Miners continued to emphasise their status as one of the league’s form teams – by overcoming another.

Garforth will host Silsden again on 24th October for a West Riding County Cup clash, but before that there is an away match at Goole in the league next Saturday.