TOBY Wells made an impressive return to life back at Pickering Town in their double-header over the last week.

The shot-stopper was thrust straight into the action against Golcar United last Tuesday after a six-year absence, having turned out 117 times for the club between 2014 and 2017.

Pickering earned just their third win of the Toolstation Northern Counties East League season against Golcar, but could not follow that up at fellow strugglers Maltby, falling to a 2-1 defeat in South Yorkshire at the weekend.

Wells was called into early action on his second debut, making a smart stop to deny Golcar’s Alfie Wilkinson just two minutes into the match.

Kai Phillip was next to try his luck as the visitors’ bright start continued, but it was the Pikes that struck first with 25 minutes played.

After a corner routine straight off the training pitch resulted in central defender Jamie Poole being dragged down inside the box, Dawes made no mistake with his spot kick to fire his side in front.

Golcar defender Kiero Lawrence was sent to the sin bin in the aftermath, with Pickering soon capitalising on their man advantage to double their lead.

Captain Wayne Brooksby was afforded time and space by the Golcar defence, superbly striking the ball past Sam Kelly and into the back of the net on the half-hour mark.

Wells ensured his side maintained their lead at the interval, punching away another effort from Phillip before somehow tipping Wilkinson’s low strike onto the crossbar and away to safety.

Pickering picked up where they left off in the second half, Kieran Stares bringing a good save from Kelly after meeting Brooksby’s pass six yards out.

Golcar’s ill-discipline though continued, Wilkinson the next to find himself sin-binned with 25 minutes left to play.

Again, the Pikes looked to take advantage of their 10-man opponents, but Matty Robinson saw his diving header bounce favourably for Kelly to collect.

Despite having seen the better of the chances, Pickering’s backs remained to the wall in their quest for a first clean sheet of the season, but they found it again elusive.

Having been twice denied by Wells, Wilkinson finally got his goal with two minutes of normal time remaining, curling a fine strike to halve the deficit.

That set up a tense six minutes of injury time, but the Pikes held on for a ‘huge three points’.

After the match, Tony Hackworth enthused his delight at Wells’ saves and distribution, handing the ‘keeper another start against fellow strugglers Maltby Main on Saturday.

The Pikes were six points above their opponents ahead of kick-off, but saw that halved after a poor performance in which they were made to rue their missed chances.

Hackworth made two changes to the side that had beaten Golcar, with Tom Godden replacing James Ward in defence and Paul Roddam returning to the starting line-up after injury in place of the absent Stares.

Captain Brooksby was again moved deeper into the midfield following his previous Man-of-the-Match display.

The Miners nudged themselves in front against the run of play 10 minutes into the contest through Mackenzie Warne, but the Pikes hit back, again from the penalty spot.

As he had against Golcar, Dawes stepped up to convert after Roddam had been clipped inside the box.

Having levelled the scores on the half-hour mark, Pickering made their first substitution three minutes later, Jamie Thornton replacing Godden in their defence.

Nathan Dyer squandered two fantastic opportunities to fire the Pikes into the lead shortly after the restart, firing efforts narrowly wide of both posts.

With the swirling wind and pouring rain making conditions less than ideal, both sides struggled to create much of note until the final 10 minutes.

It was the hosts who scored the all-important third goal, with former Pikes striker Nathan Perks coming back to haunt his former side.

A horrendous mix-up at the back saw the debutant poach on the loose ball for a tap-in to crucially restore his side’s lead.

Both Perks and Fernando Tavares were cautioned in the dying stages, but Maltby held on for the three points.

Pickering return to action against Garforth Town at Mill Lane on Saturday (3pm).