Second half goals from Slater Barnes and Muhammet Tektas failed to yield a result for Thackley as they succumbed to a 3-2 loss away at Knaresborough Town in the team’s first game of 2025, with a 90th minute concession meaning the Dennyboys left Manse Lane empty handed.

The game’s early minutes saw the ball spend a lot of time in the air as both teams tried to gain a foothold on the game in the cold conditions on a pitch which had suffered following the recent cold and wet weather, with big chances being few and far between, with a corner for the Dennyboys being the only significant moment for either of the two teams.

The 25th minute would provide the game’s biggest chance up to this point when a link-up from Barnes and Finn Donovan allowed the latter to be played through and get a shot off for the first time in the game, but this effort was tame and was easily collected by the keeper.

As the half an hour mark arrived, Thackley would again have a moment in front of goal as Ben Grech-Brooksbank capitalised on a poor clearance from Knaresborough and managed to have a volleyed effort at goal that went just wide of the mark which everyone watching thought was going to finish in the back of the net.

The hosts would then have a chance of their own on 34 minutes after Adam Priestley was played into a very promising position before forcing an excellent save out of Luke Wilson, with the resulting corner being cleared away.

Knaresborough would also have the half’s final big chance on 36 minutes when a long ball over the top found Will Lenehan, who could only lift his effort over the bar.

The rest of the half would pass without much of note, with the referee soon bringing to an end a difficult period for both sides that left a lot to be desired for the second half.

HALF-TIME: Knaresborough Town 0- 0 Thackley AFC

The game resumed with no noticeable improvement in the conditions at Manse Lane, but this failed to deter the hosts, who took the lead on the 49 minute mark after a free kick would allow the ball to find the feet of Ben Parkes before the forward managed to open the game’s scoring with an excellent effort from some distance which left Wilson with no chance.

The 55th minute would have things go from bad to worse for Thackley when the referee would award the hosts a penalty after Bodle when clearing the ball with a header was surprisingly adjudged to have fouled Priestley, with the resulting shot being converted by Jack Lazenby relatively comfortably to double Knaresborough’s lead.

Going down by two goals in quick succession would provide a much needed injection for the Dennyboys, with them being able to take control of the game from this point onwards, with this being quickly reflected in the 64th minute after substitute Tawheed Ahmed would beat Knaresborough stopper Tommy Brown in a race for the ball before squaring over to Barnes, who converted his effort into an open net to halve the deficit at a crucial time.

As the minutes ticked down following that effort, control would remain mostly with Thackley and all the chances would go their way, but it would take up until the 86th minute for another lifeline to show itself in the form of an equaliser from another substitute, this time being Tektas, with the goal coming from a Lewis Sugden corner before Chris Jancevski managed to play the ball down, with Tektas waiting to head the ball in and seemingly save a point for Thackley in the process.

However, as added time arrived, a last minute free kick for the hosts would be floated into the box before Phil Milsom was in the right place to then flick the ball into the net and seal the victory for the hosts on a very difficult day for the Dennyboys.

FULL-TIME: Knaresborough Town 3-2 Thackley AFC

Sadly, the three week enforced break following the last time out at Golcar United seemed to have disrupted the Thackley flow of form and it took a while for the Dennyboys to get going on a difficult pitch at Manse Lane. This result marks a far from ideal start to the new year for Thackley. Next up is a difficult trip to Hallam FC in another important NCEL Premier Division match on Saturday 25 January 2025 (KO 3pm).

Knaresborough Town team: Brown; Wildin; McDaid; Beaston; Milsom; Lenehan; Creamer; Lazenby; Priestley; Parkes; Hudson.
Subs: Walker; Stewart; Lee; Nicholson; Lee.

Thackley AFC team: Wilson; Parsons; Bodle (Jancevski 76mins); Hudson; Dempsey(Rhodes 45mins); Sugden; Donovan (Ahmed 53mins); Mitchell; Brown; Grech-Brooksbank© (Tektas 73mins); Barnes.
Unused subs: Gibbon

Knaresborough Town scorers: Parkes (49mins); Lazenby (55mins - penalty); Milson (90mins).
Thackley AFC scorers: Barnes (64mins); Tektas (86mins).

Attendance: 186