It was Charlie Marshall's turn this week to don Town's "problem no 9" jersey, with Rinor Ejupi pushed upfield to replace him. Owen Marshall switched to fullback to replace Ejupi, with Jay Davis in turn filling in for Marshall. Up front, Nash Connolly made his first start of the season to replace the unavailable Sam Cable. On the bench there were welcome returns from injury for Harry Colville, Ewan Gregson and Alex Zachariou.

In a tense encounter in front of a partisan home crowd, our first chance of the afternoon fell to Connolly who shot straight at Ashington keeper Ryan Catterick when suppled by captain Dan Coupland. A couple of openings for the Colliers saw Liam Henderson shoot well wide, then Craig Spooner brought a routine save from Harry Flatters. On 21 mins Davis characteristically spotted an opportunity from an uncontested drop ball after the referee inadvertently interrupted play; his strike from 25 yards out just over the bar.

Despite plenty of endeavour the two sides continued to be found lacking in front of goal. Josh Gilchrist's delivery was headed away in the six-yard box by Viggars, before Owen Marshall's low strike was narrowly off-target after Charlie Marshall headed on Davis' free-kick. The final chance of the half fell to Henderson who's long range strike found the roof of the net.

Five minutes after the break, Garforth went ahead when Catterick appeared to drop Davis' corner kick into his own net. They all count, and for a Town side who've struggled to find the net since late January, this was the first own goal by an opponent of the season.

There was no time however to build on our slender lead as within four minutes we were down to ten men for the second game in a row. Viggars kicked out at opponent Henderson after both players clashed just outside our box, and with home supporters baying for blood, was given his marching orders.

As one might expect, the Colliers enjoyed most of the possession from then on, but their finishing let them down. The resulting free kick after the red card from Gilchrist was well wide, as was Craig Spooner's effort soon after, set up by a well-worked move from left to right.

The introduction of Matt Savage and Colville (for Freddie Jeffreys and Connolly) seemed to steady the nerves, with Colville making some promising forays down the left. Further Ashington chances saw a 25-yard Marc Ellison strike go over the bar, then Henderson similarly shot off-target from Jordan Summerly's cross.

A Town break forward on 78 mins saw sub Max Bauer go down under challenge in the area, but the referee was unimpressed and promptly booked him for diving as well as Ejupi for protesting. The action soon returned back to the "Katie Dogs" end, with Ellison blazing over the bar after Spooner's corner was half-cleared at the back post. Flatters denied at the second attempt sub Ryan Donaldson's low strike, before Ryan Wombwell's volley flashed just beyond the far post. Deep into injury time, Bauer's bobbled effort was saved after sub Gregson tricked his way down the right.

In the end the home side hadn't made their numerical advantage pay, and a battling and well-organised Town side went on to take all three points. With our travelling now largely complete, there's three Yorkshire derbies now to round off the season. North Ferriby are the visitors to the Bannister Prentice Stadium on Good Friday (kick-off 3pm).