Avenue 1, Garforth 0

Avenue avoided the dreaded club-of-the-month curse to register a seventh straight league victory on the first day of December.

Before the game they were presented with the plaque and magnum of champagne for winning the November award. From the Premiership down, acceptance of the accolade is usually followed by a defeat.

The win over Garforth Town may have been by the narrowest of margins but it was one of Avenue's more significant ones as the players had to scrap and toil against a side who take no prisoners.

"We were not at our best but we battled through what was a very tough fixture and came out with three points," said Horsfall boss Benny Phillips.

"It was satisfying to win by grinding out a result against Garforth, a team who get in your faces. They will take points off a lot of teams in this division this season.

"I had heard they could be over the top but they behaved well off the field and the people in their technical area were controlled during the game and magnanimous afterwards.

"Our players had to show great character to win. When you are not playing at your best, to be able to grind out a result like that is the sign of a very good side.

"I thought we deserved it, despite being a little under par. Garforth never really threatened our goal and some big decisions went against us.

"A 1-0 lead is never enough and there were some nervous moments late on but it would have been a travesty if they had taken a point from a lucky goal."

The referee lost patience with Garforth in the 20th minute when he reached for a yellow card. He brandished it at visiting skipper Brett Renshaw but it could have been any one of half a dozen players.

Avenue took the lead following a classic counter-attack. A cross from Jason St Juste forced Avenue keeper Jon Worsnop to concede a corner. That led to Nathan Kamara, a former Avenue man, shooting over.

Worsnop launched the resulting goalkick to Chris Gaghan but his touch to Mike Moseley did not carry. However, covering defender Renshaw slipped and Gaghan picked the ball back up and raced in before slotting under the Garforth keeper.

Minutes later Avenue skipper Steve Connors had the ball in the net again but it did not count. The midfielder followed a ball through into the area, Garforth keeper Karl Spratt challenged for it with him and lost out. Connors hooked the ball in while lying on the turf but the whistle was blown by the referee who, mistakenly, had over-protected Spratt.

There were chances at both ends and the second half was frustrating for Avenue but they created more and always looked likely to add to their tally. Their approach play was excellent, it was just quality in the area that was lacking.

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