PROLIFIC Farsley Celtic forward James Walshaw netted a second half hat-trick as Tadcaster Albion were beaten 5-1 on Bank Holiday Monday.

Brewers boss Billy Miller initially made two changes to the team that lost to Scarborough Athletic on Boxing Day. However, this was to change when Jono and Josh Greening were caught in horrendous traffic, meaning Jordan Armstrong and Conor Sellars stepped in.

Despite the late alterations, it was nearly the perfect start to the Evo-Stik division one north clash and the year for Tadcaster.

In the very first minute an Armstrong free-kick caused Celtic problems. Rob Youhill nodded down for Josh Barrett who saw his close-range effort beaten away by McKibbin.

The Farsley stopper could only push back to Youhill who picked out Tom Allan, who also saw his strike cleared off the line.

The Brewers were denied again seven minutes later, this time by the woodwork.

Youhill did well to create the half a yard of space needed to fire a cross to Tom Corner who could only direct his header onto the face of the crossbar. The rebound fell to Sellars whose reaction header was blocked.

Next it was the referee's turn to deny Taddy a chance to take the lead.

Adam Baker floated a diagonal ball over the top which started a race between Aiden Savory and Corner. The Tadcaster forward got to the ball first and there was a clumsy challenge from the defender. However, referee Aaron Bannister wasn't convinced.

Allan came close once more from a set-piece as Farsley cleared off the line for a second time.

The home side finally awoke after 25 minutes – Paul Walker powerfully drifted in-field and hung up the perfect cross for Walshaw but the striker couldn't hit the target.

The Celts began to grow into the encounter and Ross Daly had a glorious chance to break the deadlock eight minutes later when the midfielder stormed into the penalty area but could only poke straight at Gary Stevens.

However, the home side did take the lead six minutes from the break as Richard Marshall's low shot somehow found its way through Stevens' legs and into the back of the net.

And it could have been two five minutes later – this time Stevens making amends to deny Marshall a second.

Taddy did find a way to goal before the half-time whistle went as Josh Grant's high cross squirmed past McKibbin, but Allan clearly jumped into and impeded the goalkeeper.

Into the second half and Sellars was given a golden opportunity to equalise, but the nippy attacker couldn't beat McKibbin. Farsley then had an effort of their own cleared off the line by Dan Thirkell.

They did double their lead in the 69th minute though, with Walshaw turning in at the near post. But back came Taddy as the deficit was pegged back to just one again four minutes later.

A double change saw Allan move from centre-back to centre-forward and he subsequently scored his third goal in three games – capitalising on a mix up between McKibbin and Clayton to reignite hopes for the travelling Taddy fans.

With nine minutes remaining though the contest was all but over as Marshall netted his second and Celtic's third of the afternoon. The Brewers couldn't live with Walker's trickery and powerful wide play and Marshall fired into the net.

With the game effectively over, Walshaw scored two more in the final two minutes to complete his hat-trick and add a gloss to the score line.

His second and Farsley's fourth was a fantastic goal. The ball was sharply played into him on the edge of the penalty area and the experienced striker turned and arrowed into the bottom corner in one swift motion.

The fifth and final goal of the afternoon came deep in injury time when Walshaw raced through Taddy's back-line and deftly dinked over Stevens.

* Division one north promotion-chasers Scarborough Athletic made relatively hard work of their 2-0 home win over struggling Goole.

A crowd of 451 saw the game come to life in the second half. Goole keeper Thomas Beaurepaire saved well from Barry Igiehom and Adam Bolder, twice, and in between times Cameron Murray saw a good effort go over the bar.

Matty Turnbull also had a far-post header cleared off the line.

But Boro finally opened the scoring after 61 minutes. Jacob Hazel and Dave Merris combined before the former finished calmly in the six-yard box. Hazel had another effort deflected for a corner before adding his second goal in the 73rd minute to effectively seal the points.

He was unlucky not to complete a hat-trick late on.