A fantastic team display, capped off by goals from Joe Mitchell, Luke Rhodes and Antony Brown secured a 3-1 victory for Thackley over Albion Sports at Dennyfield.

In a game full of drama from the start, both sides showed promise early on as Finn Donovan came close for the Dennyboys, whilst not long after a penalty appeal for the visitors was turned away by the referee, and Sumaili Cisse for the visitors picking up an early yellow card for simulation. It would be the first yellow card of many in the game shown by the referee.

The game’s even pace continued as the first half progressed, though when the clear chances began to show themselves, it was Thackley that enjoyed them, with Slater Barnes’ ball to Antony Brown inside the box after 26 minutes allowing a great opportunity for the latter of the two to shoot, but this would just go over.

However, the lead didn’t come much later for the Dennyboys after another effort from Brown was saved by Jordan Porter, before the resulting clearance fell to Mitchell, whose powerful shot made it past the wall of Albion players and into the net to give the team a 28th minute lead.

The game’s big moments didn’t let up after this goal, with Sumaili Cisse being shown a red card for Albion after his second booking, this time for bringing down Finn Donovan as he looked to break away on the right wing, before the 35th minute saw the Dennyboys were also reduced to 10 men as Matty Dempsey was deemed to have committed a foul as the last man. Thackley had been in good control of possession when a loose pass allowed Nathan Cartman to get the wrong side of Dempsey, and despite it looking like Liam Hudson had covered the centre the referee brandished a red card after consulting with his Assistant Referee.

Albion then had a fantastic opportunity to level the game in the 38th minute after they were awarded a penalty, with the resulting kick from Dominic Staunton getting the better of Michael Roxburgh, but it would ultimately hit the post, maintaining Thackley’s advantage and denying Albion an important equaliser.

Finn Donovan almost scored a goal of the season contender as Thackley broke and a ball from Barnes found Brown on the edge of the area. He set Donovan who hit a first time effort from the right hand corner of the box which flew past Porter and looked destined for the top corner. Somehow, the ball from a combination of the post / bar / back support beam bounced fortuitously back directly to Porter on the left side of his goal. With some Thackley players celebrating the goal, neither the Referee nor Assistant Referee indicated the ball had crossed the line and play continued, in what looked like a 50/50 call for those in the stadium.

Chances then began to flow again for Thackley, with a joint chance from Slater Barnes and Luke Rhodes almost providing a second goal, but the latter would find himself in and amongst the action again on the 45th minute after a low cross from Donovan who had been played through himself by Antony Brown made its way over to the far side of the goal, with Rhodes then being in the best place to tap the ball into an open net and give the Dennyboys an ideal lead as the referee brought a hectic first 45 minutes to a close almost immediately after.

HALF TIME: Thackley 2 v 0 Albion Sports

After the break, Thackley began the second half on top, with Barnes coming close after an excellent solo drive in the 51st minute, before a cross from Rhodes floated across the face of goal and with two players in support, but in the end the ball would go out of play.

It would be the 61st minute when the game took a turn after Ellis Wade got a goal back for Albion, a rebounded effort that was the perfect reaction from the player after his disappointing miss a couple of minutes earlier, whilst the goal also gave the the visitors a vital boost going into a crucial period of the game.

However, the game would enter a lull following this goal, with both sides defending well and restricting each other’s ability to get a move going that could determine the course of the game going forward.

Beyond the 70th minute, Thackley were able to restore a level of control over the game, with Donovan coming close after a promising curled effort just missed the mark.

The 75th minute would prove crucial, with a fine set piece routine from the Dennyboys resulting in a cross from Donovan being headed home by Brown for a well-deserved goal for both the player and the whole team that established some space between the two teams the minutes ticked down.

The rest of the game would pass without much drama as Thackley managed a great consolidation effort to secure a huge win over a fellow top 6 contender that also establishes some important momentum as the Dennyboys’ next game sees them face the tough test of the table topping Silsden AFC at Dennyfield on Saturday.

FULL TIME: Thackley 3 v 1 Albion Sports

A much needed victory after a few poor results meant Thackley got back to winning ways, and it was a performance which deserved the 3 points against a good Albion Sports team who themselves are having an excellent season. The result sees Thackley jump up to 4th in the table again overtaking the visitors who move down to 5th.

Thackley team: Roxburgh; Rhodes (Gibbon 80mins); Bodle (Hunt 90mins); Parsons; Dempsey; Hudson; Donovan (Ahmed 88mins); Mitchell; Brown; Grech-Brooksbank©; Barnes. Unused subs: Tektas; Jones.

Albion Sports team: Porter; Cox; Henry; Sharry; A.Basi©; Staunton; Cisse; Moke; Cartman; Suddards; Wade. Subs: Hill; Waddington; Walker; Conlon; K.Basi.

Thackley Scorers: Mitchell (28mins); Rhodes (45mins); Brown (75mins)
Albion Sports Scorer: Wade (61mins)

Man of the Match: Joe Mitchell

Attendance: 134