Match report by Cayden Sands

An improved second half display from Thackley did little to undo the damage imposed by Beverley Town in the first half as the hosts picked up a comfortable 4-0 win at Norwood Park. Coming into the game, there was a return to the starting line up for Gardner, Sugden, Rhodes, Brown and the skipper Grech-Brooksbank.

This result continues the Dennyboys’ recent struggles on the road, with only two away victories going back to the beginning of September, whilst also continuing Beverley’s recent strong run of form.

The game couldn’t have started any worse for Thackley after an early miscommunication at the back allowed Cameron Connelly to get through on goal against Michael Roxburgh before he was able to calmly go round the goalkeeper and tap into an open net, giving the hosts the advantage with less than two minutes on the clock.

However, the Dennyboys weren’t going to go down lightly, with a good spell allowing Lewis Gardner to put the ball into the net after some good build-up play, though this was pulled back for offside.

Beverley suffered a similar fate in the 14th minute, with a link-up from Glen Sani and Connelly also being pulled back for an offside flag.

The hosts wouldn’t have to wait long to double their advantage however when after an otherwise promising spell from Thackley, a well hit long ball found its way to Sani, whose speed was enough to connect with the ball in a one on one situation with Roxburgh before he pulled off a perfect chipped effort to give Beverley a two goal lead after 26 minutes.

The Dennyboys almost immediately got a goal back following the restart, with a passage of play between Ben-Grech Brooksbank and Antony Brown seeing the latter of the players narrowly miss a good chance.

The hosts would be at it again on the counter after only 31 minutes, with Alexander Markham doing well on the wing to beat Gardner’s marking before racing into the box and slotting the ball past Roxburgh, establishing a clear level of superiority on the day.

The rest of the half would go by without many chances of note, though Thackley would struggle to find a foothold in the game, meaning that they had it all to do after the half time break. One moment of concern though came when Gardner challenged for a header in the 42nd minute, and on his landing was clearly in a lot of pain. Gardner after treatment could not continue and Mitchell was subbed on for him at the end of the first half, with Parsons moving to left back.

HALF-TIME: Beverley Town 3-0 Thackley AFC

The Dennyboys came out for the second half looking stronger, though Beverley would be solid at the back and they did well to keep Thackley at bay.

The best of these early chances would come after some build-up play allowed Finn Donovan to deliver a cross that would go out for a corner, with that finding the waiting feet of Matty Dempsey, whose effort showed some promise but was tipped over the bar by the home side keeper.

Following this, the Dennyboys would be given a golden opportunity in the 59th minute when after a shot from Slater Barnes was initially well saved by Dash between the sticks, the play was pulled back for a foul in the build-up that awarded a penalty for Thackley.

Grech-Brooksbank would be the man that stepped up, but his powerful penalty to the left hand side of the goal was saved perfectly by Dash to keep the hosts’ lead intact.

After the penalty, the game entered a lull in its pace and had a sustained period with a lack of major moments, with a 74th minute miss from Dempsey being the main effort of note.

Beverley then enjoyed their best period of the half, which culminated in the game deciding goal courtesy of Sani in the 84th minute, who beat his marker before getting into space and managing to get a strong effort off that took a deflection off of Liam Hudson, confirming an emphatic win for the hosts and another disappointing day on the road for Thackley.

FULL-TIME: Beverley Town 4-0 Thackley AFC

The Dennyboys will have a week to lick their wounds before they return to action on Saturday with a trip back to Humberside to face Barton Town in the NCEL Premier Division. Results elsewhere in the division mean that the Dennyboys drop to 6th position in the league, but with games in hand on the other teams above it is still a very good position as we approach the half way stage of the season.

Beverley Town team: Dash; Markham; Stockhill; Larkin; Attree; Peircy; Sani; Knaggs; Connelly; Snelgrove; Birch:
Subs: Plummer; Hill; Taylor; Suluburic; Baldwin

Thackley AFC team: Roxburgh; Rhodes (Gibbon 79mins); Gardner (Mitchell 45mins); Sugden (Jones 63mins); Dempsey; Hudson; Donovan (Ahmed 66mins); Parsons; Brown; Grech-Brooksbank (Bradshaw 79mins); Barnes.

Beverley Town scorers: Connelly (2 mins), Sani (26 mins & 84 mins), Markham (31 mins)