Wakefield Athletic have to settle for a point in six-goal thriller

In an open game with both sides showing their attacking traits, the rearguards had to work overtime.

The hosts broke the deadlock in the ninth minute as a fierce driven effort across the danger zone by Kane Whitaker caused chaos and led to Josh Harrison steering the loose ball home from close range.

A set-piece goal saw Athletic race into a 2-0 lead when Liam Norbury's long throw was glanced on by Danny Young into the path of Whitaker who cleverly chipped the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.

Liam Norbury then saw his headed effort Josh Harrison's perfectly weighted corner cleared off the line. However, two minutes later, the Fishers outfit clawed a goal back when a long throw from the left led to Nathan Hallas tucking the loose ball home.

The game ebbed from end to end with both defences in top form to deny goal scoring opportunities.

However, Athletic went close before the break when a Liam Norbury free-kick found Whitaker whose effort rattled the crossbar.

Hallas intercepted a pass before rifling the ball on target for his brace to make it 2-2.

The second half proved to be a tit for tat affair, but the home side regained the lead when a Danny Jones free-kick from the right saw Norbury send in a powerful towering header into the roof of the net at the far post for his first-ever goal for Athletic.

Missed chances were to prove costly and the visitors were gifted an equaliser 19 minutes from time when an unfortunate slip in a defensive area saw Austin Broadbent seize the opportunity to rifle the ball home.

Athletic produced a late rally with a Jack Rothery thunderbolt tipped over and Danny Jones and Samir Khamis going close with efforts saved.

Athletic keeper Logan Willians-Owen was also forced into a full-length flying save.

Wakefield were denied a winner in the dying seconds when a well constructed move ended with Khamis forcing a parried stop on the line. The rebound fell to Mustapha Konatech with the goalmouth at his mercy but he blazed the ball over from a tight angle.

The Howdens man of the match award was shared by Whitaker, Norbury and Danny Jones. Athletic travel to leaders AFC Royal this Sunday.

A superb second half comeback saw Wakefield Athletic A recover from a three-goal deficit to share the spoils with Hemsworth MW in Premiership Two.

The hero of the hour proved to be substitute striker Rich Normington who grabbed a brace with Dom Taylor hitting the deserved equaliser in this tantalising match at the West Yorkshire Sports & Social Club venue.

The hosts met Hemsworth for the third time in their last five games in a match that truly proved the "game of two halves" stereotype.

Hemsworth had been well beaten by Athletic in their two previous games and clearly had a point to prove as they took the lead within 10 seconds of the kick off. An unfortunate slip by Danny Carter at the back for Athletic meant he scuffed his clearance straight to Marvin Buckley who calmly slotted past a helpless Rushforth in the Athletic goal to stun the home team.

The visitors controlled possession following their early goal and doubled their lead when capitalising on poor defending in allowing the clinical Buckley to beat his opposite number and again slot calmly past Rushforth.

Athletic were rattled and struggling to both clear their lines and keep a hold of the ball while Welfare were having a lot of joy with their left winger posing a lot a problems.

The hosts’ defensive performance was summed up in the first half when Hemsworth had a free-kick from 25 yards out which forced a good save from Rushforth, but he could only parry it to Conor Pegston who was completely unmarked to make it 3-0.

Half-time was timely with Athletic making two changes to try and freshen things up. With captain Dalton Holford struggling with flu, he was replaced by Rich Normington who made his return following a lengthy knee injury.

Athletic knew they had to improve massively in the second half to get anything from the game and they did just that within five minutes of the restart when the impressive Dom Taylor beat his opposite number on the left wing and fired the ball across where Rich Normington was waiting to score with his first touch.

The home side were obviously buoyed by the goal and kept the pressure on with Taylor proving too much to handle for the Hemsworth right-back and his powerful direct running creating all sorts of problems.

Normington was again in the right position to claim a poacher's goal when the ball broke to him following some great work by Taylor and Craig Holdsworth on the left wing to reduce the arrears to a single goal.

The comeback was complete when Danny Carter kept the ball alive following a corner. David Mitchell heading against the post, but fortune favoured Athletic with the rebound dropping to Normington who showed great composure to lay the ball off for Taylor to score from close range.

The final whistle came and the points were shared at 3-3 with both teams likely feeling they could have nicked all three points.

The On Track Coffee man of the match honours were shared by Taylor, Normington and Mitchell.

Hanging Heaton will host a team above their tier, Wakefield Athletic A, in the President's Trophy competition on Sunday.

Wakefield Athletic B made up for their early season shock draw against bottom of the table Hanging Heaton FC, with a resounding 5-2 victory in their away fixture in Championship One.

Striker Ryan Jones weighed-in with a fine hat-trick in only his third appearance for the club. His first came from close range after 16 minutes and he netted again from Abdul Mohammedkair’s delicious through ball after Ashley Howarth had levelled.

Hanging Heaton made it all-square at 2-2 with a deep cross and a far post tap-in from Jake Pearson.

But in the second half, the visitors were more direct and attacked at speed, which saw them regain the lead for the third time through midfielder Kieran Noon who hammered home a penalty after his brother Josh Noon was brought down in the box.

Defender Josh Hemmingway then volleyed home from a corner and striker Jones compounded the hosts’ misery by sealing his well deserved hat-trick after some neat footwork to open up space.

The Waite man of the match honours were shared by Ryan Jones, full-back Aiden Robinson and winger Harrison Carney.

On Sunday, Wrenthorpe Rangers are the visitors to play the B-team in the President's Trophy competition.