Maltby Main 1 Garforth 4

Centre-back Joe Smith returned to the squad after a spell out injured, allowing utility man Jordan Emery to be pushed forward to replace an unavailable Dan Coupland. Sam Denton was given a place in the starting eleven, replacing Harry Viggars.

On paper this looks a comfortable victory, but for an hour it was a tight contest, with Town up against stubborn opponents and both playing amid difficult conditions.

That was despite The Miners taking the lead in the very first minute. Nash Connolly made his way down the right wing and found Jay Davis; his shot was blocked but the rebound came to Marshall to his left who fired home. On 13 mins Sam Barker's header was saved by Maltby keeper Levi Owen from Jordan Emery's free kick. Town struggled to sustain the pressure on the hosts, and they found the equalizer on 22 mins. Matthew Ord's deep free-kick was played back into the area to Ethan Hobson who headed beyond the dive of Harry Flatters. There was a chance soon after for the hosts to complete the turnaround, with Ahren Rogers' low shot going wide of the far post.

Davis was denied by Owen when supplied by Marshall on 30 mins, the keeper clawing the ball away from under his feet, then down the other end Leighton Sawyer's low ball across the six-yard box just needed tapping in, but ex-Town striker Nathan Perks was inches behind it. Marshall then came close himself to a second as half time approached; his glancing header from Davis's free-kick just beyond the far post.

Perks and Sawyer combined again for another Maltby chance on 53 mins, but Flatters was equal to Perks' header. After that, Town started to get hold of the game, and Marshall was unfortunate with a low shot which struck the near post after Barker worked his way into the box. He had his second however (and his 40th for the club) on 67 mins to finally restore our lead. After Emery's shot was blocked, the ball was played across to Marshall, who scored with a fierce strike across Owen.

Connolly came close to making it three when his header from Barker's delivery was just wide of the near post. From a counter attack on 81 mins, Marshall did exactly that to complete his hattrick. Outfoxing both Owen and defender Matthew Reay, he found the bottom corner of the net to surely take the points back up the A1. A minute from time substitute Matt Antcliff scored his first goal since his recent return from injury, and as welcome as it was, probably not in a matter he expected. Sliding in for the ball with Hobson just inside the area, he got to it first and bundled in past a stranded Owen to make it four. Deep into injury time there was a chance for sub Alex Knox to score his first for the club when supplied by Antcliff's foray along the right, but his low shot was just off-target.

Another good win for Paul Marshall's side and a test of character which we might not have passed back in the early weeks of the season. After some confusing developments on the fixtures front this week, we are next in action a week on Tuesday for an all-Leeds derby against NPL Premier Division neighbours Guiseley in the West Riding County Cup (kick-off 7:45pm).