Yorkshire Amateur boss Phil Harding thrilled with 8-3 victory over Garforth Town

Yorkshire Amateur 8-3 Garforth Town

By James Grayson (Twitter: @jamesAgrayson)

Match Photos are HERE

New Yorkshire Amateur joint boss Phil Harding was thrilled after his side hammered Garforth Town at Bracken Edge in their first pre-season friendly fixture.

Hat-tricks from Joel Hughes and Mark Hill and solitary goals from Tinique Fishley and Dwight Halliday gave the Ammers the perfect start to their pre-season preparations.

The Ammers start their Toolstation Northern Counties East League Division One season next week when they host AFC Emley and Harding was delighted with the performance against Garforth.

“I’m very, very happy, if you had said 1-0 before the match I would have settled for that, but 8-3 is unbelievable,” he said.

“The strikers did well, but the whole squad did well. (Going into the match) Garforth had match fitness having played three matches already while we hadn’t played any, and we did quite well.”

Whilst the score-line was huge, a weakened Garforth side did play well in parts and were the first to score after 16 minutes. Alex Booker chased down Ammers captain Craig Maynard and took the ball off the left-back. Booker raced away and fired the ball past goalkeeper Tom Carlisle from a tight angle.

Alex Booker is congratulated by Jack McMurrough

Garforth defender Alex Bell then rattled the crossbar with a header before Tyson Newell blasted the rebound over the top.

But for all their pressure, the game began to slip away from Garforth as the Ammers took advantage of calamitous defending.

Former Glasshoughton Welfare goalkeeper Jordan Robson was unable to stop Halliday from equalising and then Hughes when he put the Ammers ahead on 31 minutes. A Hughes penalty ensured the Ammers went into the break 3-1 up.

The nightmare for Garforth continued after half-time as Hughes got his hat-trick after waltzing through a tired Garforth defence. 

Garforth’s powerful striker Nick Black reduced the deficit with a well-taken free kick, but Ammers soon scored again – Tinique Fishley the goalscorer.

Garforth Town striker Nick Black

Substitute striker Mark Hill increased the score with a hat-trick to take the Ammers to 8-2 with the Garforth defence all at sea at times.

In the closing stages, local lad Alex Bracken hit a brilliant strike from the edge of the box to give Garforth something to cheer about at the end after showing great composure to find the top corner and reduce the damage.

For Garforth the result damages confidence, but for the Ammers, a club that nearly faced having to be re-elected into the NCEL after finishing second-bottom, it is a huge morale lift.

Harding and Lincoln Richards are the men tasked with reviving the Ammers and the former spoke about their targets for the new campaign.

“My goals to start the season are to finish in the top ten, that’s the aim and that gets us into the FA Cup for next year,” he said.

“Anything after that is a bonus. The club has really been down and out, no committee, no players, the manager left and ended up at the bottom of the league and nearly got relegated.

“Hopefully we can do something about that on and off the pitch.”

Garforth Town:  Robson, Royales. Newell, Bell, Allen, Ndukuba, McMurrough, Greenhalgh, Black, Booker, Hemingway. Subs: Ellis, Bracken, Wodger, Barclay.

Referee: Ian Johnston