Athersley Rec 0-4 Garforth Town

Report by Samuel Bannister
Garforth ended the season on a high with a resounding 4-0 win over Athersley Recreation.

Braces from Lee Turner and Dan Williams within the opening half an hour gave Town the emphatic win in Barnsley, helping avenge the demons of the defeat suffered at the same venue on the last day of last season.

Garforth came out of the traps with an attacking intent, with Helmo Silva - making his fourth consecutive start - controlling the ball and feeding it to Williams, who took a touch before seeing his shot blocked.

Town reaped the rewards for their pacy start to the game on 12 minutes, when Turner put them 1-0 up. After some good work from Sam Barker out wide, Williams played the ball through to Turner in a central area, who coolly finished to break the deadlock.

Four minutes later, the roles were reversed, as Turner teed up Williams with a great ball in. The striker headed the ball goalward, and the opposing defender could only divert it above his own keeper and into the net.

The duo combined yet again on 22 minutes to make it 3-0. This time it was Williams setting up Turner, who was braver than the onrushing goalkeeper and beat him to the ball. Turner was relishing the chance to play in a more natural attacking position after having to fill in at centre-half in recent weeks, and he showed composure as he touched the ball past the keeper, before running around him and tapping into an empty net.

The hosts gave Garforth a slight warning when Lee Garside shot over from outside the box, which served as a reminder for Town to keep concentration levels up at the back if they wanted to take a clean sheet back to Cedar Ridge.

However, moments later Town put even more breathing space between themselves and their opposition. Once again, Turner got the better of Athersley keeper Ross Pritchard, tackling him before allowing Williams to supply the simple finish.

With the game practically won within half an hour, it was now a case of Garforth not making any basic errors at the back to allow their hosts back into the game. And they showed just how much they wanted the clean sheet when - moments after Toby Wells had tipped away a looping shot - Jordan Chippendale made a painful block on the goal line from a powerful McCauley Shillito effort. It’s that kind of desire and resilience that has seen Garforth’s fortunes upturn in recent weeks.

Town closed the half like they had started it - on the front foot and looking for goals. Silva weaved his way into the box from a starting position, but, as was the case with all his chances on what proved to be an incredibly unlucky day for the forward, he couldn’t finish it off, firing wide of the far post.

For the second half, Garforth wanted to keep the pressure on, and Aiden Kearsley’s left-footed shot from outside the box was the first signal of Town’s refusal to relax. The effort fell wide, but it was another positive start.

Silva then had one more chance to break his duck for the season, but Pritchard tapped round the post. It was the last action for the Portuguese attacker, who had put a great shift in. Shortly after, Rob Hunter took the opportunity to give run outs to Conor Hicken and Charlie Marshall, who replaced Silva and Matthew Wilkinson.

Just before the substitution was made, came arguably Athersley’s best chance of the game. Alex Hutchinson found himself in behind the Garforth defence, and his effort crashed against the post.

There was another positive moment for Athersley when Wells had to stretch to save from a header. It served as another example of why the Town keeper went on to scoop three awards at the end of season awards night later that evening, and helped him keep his 11th clean sheet of the campaign - six of which came in the last eight games.

Town saw the game out with a couple more chances, Colley and Turner both shooting wide across goal in mirror image attempts. However, Garforth couldn’t find a way to add to their tally in what was a more physically challenging second half.

All in all, it was the perfect way to end the season, giving Garforth their biggest away league win of 2018-19. The result means that Town finish 14th after an impressive end to the season, giving everyone renewed optimism for the campaign that lies ahead next year.