On the first day of Christmas our true love gave to me, a top of the table clash as Thackley Ladies travelled to Knarsboorugh for the rearranged fixture which was postponed a few weeks back due to a waterlogged pitch. It was a game which saw a depleted Thackley Ladies squad face off against top of the league and unbeaten in years Knaresborough side full of confidence, and this confidence showed as Knaresborough started on the front foot, pressing quickly and attacking with purpose. For the first ten minutes both teams traded chances well, Rosie Gill working well on the wing to win Thackley a few corners but then Knaresborough squandering a golden opportunity from a freekick which went well over Bryony Morris’ bar. A breakthrough did happen on the 12th minute when Rachael White dispossessed the Knaresborough defence and coolly finished past the goalkeeper. Barely a minute passed though and Knaresborough had their equaliser when a smart through ball found their striker in acres of space to finish to make it all square again at 1-1 on the 13th minute. This set the tone for the first half turning quite cagey from both sides with a long range effort from Lucy Preston being the closest Thackley came to edging in front of the first half.
The second half saw the floodlights illuminate a tough battleground and as the minutes past Thackley Ladies grew more and more into the came, controlling the possession and pace of play and this was rewarded when on the 73rd minute when a fierce White shot was parried into the path of Gill who squeezed it inside of the post to make it 2-1. Instead of sitting back on their lead Thackley Ladies kept on the attack and when a clever Preston cross was met by the head of White it gave them a 3-1 lead and a little breathing room on the 79th minute. It was nearly 4-1 in the 84th minute when Preston found some space to shoot but was saved well again by the Knaresborough goalkeeper. As we neared extra time the ball landed to Amy Wood on the edge of the Knaresborough area who took one look up and struck the ball so sweetly it nestled into the top corner to rapturous applause from all round the stadium.
FT Knaresborough 1 - 4 Thackley Ladies