Harrogate Town 4-0 Boston United

Carl Piergianni and Lewis King were both sent off in a bizarre opening 16 minutes as United found themselves right up against it, with Chris Hall netting before and after the break to effectively settle the encounter.

Shane Killock and Dominic Rowe added further goals as Jamie McGhee and Rene Steer hobbled off with injuries, with all three United substitutions already made.

The match came close to abandonment when Stefan Galinski twice went down injured in the closing stages, but he bravely soldiered on to ensure the match was completed as scheduled following a bizarre afternoon in Yorkshire.

United's afternoon got off to a dreadful start, with Piergianni deemed to deny Ashley Worsfold a clear goalscoring opportunity, despite Conor Marshall appearing to be a covering defender.

Referee Mark Ackerman instantly hoisted the red card to leave United reeling and needing a reshuffle, with Galinski replacing the unfortunate Ryan Semple.

United looked undeterred and carried the greater threat early on, with keeper Craig MacGillivray producing heroics to keep out a Ricky Miller howitzer.

Worse was to come for the Pilgrims when King raced out of his box and handled Worsfold's attempted chip and whereas Piergianni's dismissal was shrouded in controversy, King's was clear-cut.

Sam Vince deputised from the bench, with top scorer Marc Newsham making way, and United lasted three more minutes without conceding.

Vince made an excellent save to deny Worsfold before Dan Clayton's corner was nodded down by Adam Nowakowski and HALL stooped to head home the game's opening goal.

Hall wasted a glorious chance to double Town's lead when he volleyed over from 12 yards but Harrogate otherwise struggled to create against a dogged and determined United side.

The Pilgrims should have equalised in first half stoppage time, but Scott Garner saw his header well saved by MacGillivray.

The second period got off to the worst possible start with Harrogate striking within 63 seconds of the restart. Steve Mallory delivered a cross from the right and HALL looped a header over Vince to double Town's lead.

Vince made a terrific save to deny Worsfold following Mallory's cross before KILLOCK powered home Clayton's resulting corner after breezing through the beleaguered United defence.

The Pilgrims' afternoon took a further turn for the worse when McGhee was crunched by a terrible Dave Merris tackle which escaped even a yellow card and then Steer injured himself heroically denying substitute Joe Ironside.

Both players were helped off the field as United were left with seven players and Vince excelled to deny both Craig Nelthorpe and Ironside in quick succession.

ROWE added Town's fourth on 80 minutes after running through and finishing well past a stranded Vince.

There was still time for Galinski to give Harrogate a mighty scare as the match came close to abandonment, but the home side played keep ball for the final minutes to ensure the match finished without any further injuries or dismissals.

Harrogate (4-4-2): Craig MacGillivray; Dwayne Samuels, Matt Heath, Shane Killock, Dave Merris; Steve Mallory (Jahmal Smith 81), Adam Nowakowski, Craig Nelthorpe, Dan Clayton (Dominic Rowe 65); Chris Hall, Ashley Worsfold (Joe Ironside 65). Subs (not used): Matt Bloomer, Anton Brown.

Boston (4-4-2): Lewis King; Conor Marshall, Scott Garner, Carl Piergianni, Rene Steer; Jamie McGhee, Ian Ross (Ben Milnes 56), Liam Agnew, Ryan Semple (Stefan Galinski 4); Marc Newsham (Sam Vince 18), Ricky Miller. Subs (not used): Spencer Weir-Daley, Ben Fairclough.

Referee: Mark Ackerman

Attendance: 632

PIC: Peter Arnett