Two second half goals in the space of two minutes from striker Danny Trott and a brace from former Grimsby Town midfielder Caine Winfarrah were enough to see off the divisions twentieth placed side.
It was far from plain sailing for Cleethorpes in a feisty first half. Chances were difficult to come by in a combative contest that allowed little space for attacking football.

Parkgate were looking the more likely to open the scoring in the very early exchanges as they twice found themselves behind the Owls back line but on both occasions Liam Higton was untested in the Cleethorpes goal.

The first Town opportunity of real note was created by an unlikely source. Tim Lowe surged forward from the back; playing a well-timed one two with Alex Flett, but unfortunately the defender dragged his shot wide of the left hand post.

In the 13th minute the bar was left shuddering after Brody Robertson connected with a whipped cross that had come from the left hand side. The goalkeeper was powerless to stop his nodded effort but Robertson didn’t add to the 27 goals that he has scored this campaign.

When Alex Flett found some rare time on the ball he helped his team carve out their last opportunity before the half time break. He showed great composure to knock a dipping pass out to the right flank for the adventurous Tim Lowe whose cross reached Peter Winn.

Unfortunately for the ex-Scunthorpe man the opportunity was snuffed out by a Pontefract defender.

In the second half the game began to open up as the hard working Pontefract were eventually starting to concede space to the Owls.
Half time substitute Jonathan Oglesby sparked some excitement amongst the Cleethorpes faithful with his direct approach to the game. He picked the ball up on the left hand side of the pitch before cutting inside and driving an effort on goal which was knocked away by the Pontefract goalkeeper. Peter Winn was again unfortunate as his follow up was deflected wide.

Moments later Winn and Cleethorpes’ luck changed. His throw-in found Danny Trott in the box, and the striker found room for himself with a quick turn which lost his marker. The shot that followed had the goalkeeper scrambling and put Town 1-0 up.

Moment later Trott was on the scoresheet again. Oglesby picked him out with a lofted through ball and the finish matched the quality of the pass as the ball was clipped over the stranded goalkeeper to make it 2-0 with 72 minutes gone.

In the 81st minute it was three. Caine Winfarrah was given too much time on the ball by the opposing defence and the midfielder duly punished them with a cracking shot which nestled in the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Winfarrah was not finished there and with minutes remaining he made it 4-0. It was good work on the left from Oglesby that created chance after he had left the defender for dead with a jinking run and the ball across was converted by Winfarrah.