Cleethorpes Town endured a frustrating and ultimately pointless afternoon on Saturday 12th September as visitors Garforth Town came from behind with two goals in the final fifteen minutes to snatch the points.
The game turned on it's head after 75 minutes when the Owls had captain Darren Hanslip sent off for an alleged handball. Up to that point Garforth had struggled to mount a serious attack of note and were indebted to a combination of poor finishing and a man of the match performance from goalkeeper Ben Hunter which had kept them in the game.
Striker Marc Cooper was the first Owls player to be thwarted by Hunter, the goalkeeper saving well after 6 minutes as Cooper latched onto Caine Winfarrah's cross. Brody Robertson just failed to connect with another pinpoint Winfarrah cross just moments later before Luke Mascall headed over from close range. After 18 minutes Hunter fumbled Cooper's snap shot but recovered well to claim the ball at the feet of Robertson.
Robertson was involved again inside the penalty area with 23 minutes played, seeing his first effort saved before hitting the rebound wide.
The breakthrough the Owls deserved finally came after 31 minutes as Cooper's shot from the right hand side took a wicked deflection off Garforth defender Ross Shelton, leaving Hunter wrong footed and finally beaten.
The Owls ought to have increased their lead before half time as Robertson's powerful half volley was once again well saved before a double chance fell to Mascall who shot wide and then over when well placed in the box.
The second half began in a similar fashion to the first as Mascall headed wide in the opening minute. Tim Lowe then headed over from Peter Winn's corner before neat interplay between Mascall and Cooper set up substitute Louis Grant who saw his effort well saved.
Apart from a long range effort from striker Luke Mangham, little had been seen of the visitors attack but everything changed after 75 minutes as Mangham strode into area before shooting past Clee goalkeeper Fenty, ultimately seeing his goalbound effort blocked on the line by the arm of Owls skipper Hanslip. The referee produced an instant red card and awarded a penalty which Mangham calmly converted, sending Fenty the wrong way from the spot.
The visitors now sensed they had the upper hand and came close again just seconds later as Mangham headed narrowly over.
At the opposite end, Cooper saw another effort well saved by Hunter before appeals that Lawrence Heward's header had crossed the line were waved away by the officials. While Cleethorpes protested, Garforth launched a quick break and sealed the points as Mark Simpson fired home.
The visitors almost added a third in injury time as Mangham found himself clean through on goal but fired high and wide. The miss didn't matter for Garforth though as the match ended just seconds later, bringing a frustrating afternoon for the Owls to a close.
Defeat sees Cleethorpes drop to 18th place in the Toolstation Northern Counties East League Premier Division table with a disappointing total of 6 points from the first 6 games of the season.
The Owls will look to bounce back from this defeat next weekend when the team travel to Clipstone. This will be far from easy though as Clipstone are flying high in the league and this was also the scene of Cleethorpes exit from this seasons FA Cup just three weeks ago following a 1-0 defeat. Kick off will be at 3pm.