The Celts took a surprise lead through Joao Silva but were reduced to 10 men on the half hour mark when Essa Janneh was sent off in conceding a penalty – which was converted by Paul Blackett.
Blackett added a second for the visitors before the break before Mackenzie Heaney’s 64th minute effort put the game out of reach for the Celts.
Having had the full week to recover after an intensive fixture schedule of late, Farsley looked rejuvenated and after seeing out the opening ten minutes which were largely dominated by the Tynesiders, netted the game’s opening goal on 11 minutes.
Tom Broadbent misjudged a ball over the top allowing Silva, who was this week called up to Sao Tome e Principe’s international squad for this month’s forthcoming 2026 World Cup Qualifiers against Equitorial Guniea and Libera, the opportunity to round Kyle Seymour and roll the ball into an unguarded net, to score the club’s first goal since David Stockdale took over as manager.
However Shields were gifted a chance to equalise when Blackett was pulled down by Janneh and the referee awarded a disputed penalty given initial contact looked to have started outside the area. To compound things Janneh was shown a red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Blackett kept his cool from 12 yards to draw the visitors level on 31 minutes.
The away side dealt another hammer blow three minutes before the break as they netted for a second time as Blackett, the league’s top scorer, scored his second of the game by getting a deft touch to Mackenzie Heaney’s cross.
Farsley weren’t ceding though and almost snook an equaliser when Justin Iwobi and Silva linked up, with the latter narrowly missing out on a second goal as his attempted lob of Seymour looped just over the crossbar.
Will Brook produced a fantastic save on the hour mark as he stretched acrobatically to keep Blackett’s header out though Shields did bag their third goal three minutes later as Heaney diverted Dan Ward’s initial shot past the Farsley goalkeeper to guarantee the victory.
Farsley go again next Saturday as they host second-in-the-league Scunthorpe United in another testing clash at Buxton.
Farsley Celtic: Brook, Abankwah, Janneh, Sheridan, Hyde, Monteiro (Bumhira 46), Mampala (Morrisey 86), Kondolo (Priestley-Standing 64), Polwarth, Silva, Iwobi (Ameho 58).
Sub not used: Youmbi
