A fiercely contested match in the West Riding County Cup sees the Miners beaten by reigning champions Pontefract Collieries in the second round. Town battled superbly to equal out the scores from 2-0 down to 2-2 with goals from Matt Antcliff and Sam Barker, but a cruel end to the game sees Garforth lose narrowly in an eventful derby day.

The Miners began brightly, as a well-worked move led to Matt Antcliff being fouled on the edge of the box. The resulting free kick by Dexter Marshall was curled far post and forced Colls keeper Ryan Musselwhite into action with an impressive save. Following the early pressure, the visitors managed to weather the Town storm and eventually find Collieries top scorer Jack Boyle open 20 yards out; his strike driven low into the hands of Harry Flatters.

Garforth looked to threaten again in the 15th minute after a brilliant tackle from Marshall allowed Dexter Ball to drive forward and skilfully set up Antcliff from distance, who fired with power but made for a simple catch for Musselwhite. Both teams continued to press high with intensity - the Miners were controlling possession but lacking in a killer pass to break through the structured Colls backline.

Pontefract certainly didn't lack their attacking presence however, as the speed of Kieron Ceesay and Louie Chorlton always looked like avenues for a quick counterattack. One such counter led to Chorlton being one-on-one with Flatters in the area but an incredible sweeping tackle from Max Tweddle surely prevented the opener.

The visitors' bursts of attacking quality proved to be clinical when Boyle yet again was open from a dangerous area and this time thundered an awkward knuckleball which flew past Flatters in the 43rd for the opener. Straight from the resume, the Collieries thundered forward aiming for a second before the interval and almost were rewarded as Ceesay whipped a brilliant delivery to Alfie Carmichael by the penalty spot. Somehow, Flatters managed to tip Carmichael's glancing effort around the post; a golden chance to double the lead which should've been buried.

That took affairs to the interval, but the Miners' evening worsened quickly after the break. Another rapid breakthrough down the left from Chorlton granted him the opportunity to cut the ball back to Boyle, who confidently slotted it away in the 49th minute to make it four goals from Boyle in two matches against Garforth this season.

Town attempted to battle back with resilience in the hope of clawing one back and nearly narrowed the derby after a great cross from Rinor Ejupi found the feet of Antcliff. His first time strike looked promising despite narrowly sailing over the bar.

Just as the game seemed beyond the Miners, a glimmer of hope came in the 63rd minute when Max Bauer capitalised on a poor defensive clearance from the Colls: picking up the scraps to then spin and lay-off the ball to an oncoming Antcliff, who took a few touches wide of Pontefract captain Jack Greenhough and brilliantly found the opposite bottom corner of the visitors net.

The goal managed to wobble the previously solid shape of the Collieries as Town bombed forward with every chance and regained the spirit from the home supporters. Sam Barker (just returning from a long-term injury), Harry Viggars, Jason Davis, Steve Jeff and Sam Cable all featured from the bench to add some energy to the equaliser search. Late strikes from Antcliff, Davis and Barker all tested Musselwhite's shot stopping ability but failed to result in the equaliser.

Just as the final whistle seemed seconds away, a goalmouth scramble from a Miners corner was picked up by a returning Sam Barker to smash the ball past many Colls bodies including Musselwhite for an emphatic leveller in the 88th minute which seemed likely to take the tie to penalties.

The jubilance seemed to distract Garforth and straight from the Collieries kick-off, Ceesay skilfully worked his way into the Town box to slip a ball through to substitute Oliver Metcalfe, who cruelly for Town put seal on victory of the visitors in the 90th minute. A horrible end to an entertaining encounter for the Miners, but Garforth came so close to toppling the reigning champions of the County Cup.