STEVE PALEY describes how it unfolded.

It was FA Vase day at Dennyfield on Saturday, Thackley had been drawn against local rivals Eccleshill United. The home side were sitting four points clear at the top of the Premier Division, whilst their opponents were fifth in the First Division. On paper, the result looked in little doubt, however, as we all know, this was not just a cup tie but a local derby as well, anything could happen in this sort of match and often does. Eccleshill had started the season well and at one point had topped the table but they had stuttered a little in recent games. Thackley made just one change from Tuesday's starting line up against Winterton, Matt Mathers coming in up front, Chris Davey dropping back into mid field, Andy Tasker was on the bench. There had been heavy over night rain, although the pitch had dried out, it was still on the soft side.

Eccleshill were first out of the blocks, the Eagles and Division One leading scorer, Marcus Edwards cutting into the box from the right, home keeper, Matt Convey, came out to block and the ball spun away for a corner. Five minutes in, Liam Hudson did well to get his foot to a Viktor Balis cross and direct it behind. On ten minutes it was Damien Hopkins that made a timely challenge to thwart Austin Hart, the away side were creating problems for the home defence. Eccleshill were being given time on the ball and for the first quarter of a hour were giving their higher placed rivals a bit of a footballing lesson. The game was nearly twenty minutes old before away keeper, Brendan Roslund, saw any sort of action, coming out to collect crosses from both Chris Davey and Matty Hall. Both sides were finding it difficult to get shots at goal. A Davey corner flashed across the face of the goal before, at the other end, Convey saved easily from Hart. A couple of minutes later, the same player tested Convey at the far post, the Thackley keeper got down well to turn his header round for a corner. Just before the half hour, Taylor Diem got to Hall's cross to knock it behind, Davey got his head to the corner but it flashed across the face of the goal to safety. The game entered a period where the majority of play was in mid field, Eccleshill were certainly holding their own against the Dennyboys, neither side really looked like scoring. Edwards turned on the edge of the box and fired over on the half hour before Mike Garrod had a good run down the right, he hit a fierce shot from some twenty yards that brought a fine save from Roslund, the Eccleshill keeper was at full stretch to push the ball away for a corner, Mathers headed wide. Thackley took the lead on the stroke of half time with a rather fortuitous goal scored by skipper MATT MORGAN. A free kick, taken from just inside the away sides half, was knocked into the box, it eluded everyone, including Roslund, before bouncing into the back of the net. I suppose it was a lucky goal scored at the perfect time, the Dennyboys went into the break on a high.

Half Time: Thackley 1 – 0 Eccleshill United

The Eagles were the first to get a strike at goal in the second half, it was just a minute old when Balis hit Hart's cross wide. From this point the Dennyboys started to get on top. Roslund pinched the ball off Garrod's toes, then did well to block a Mathers shot. Reid Harbach should have done better from inside the box before Hopkins picked up a yellow card form an unfair challenge. Mathers got clear, after Lewis Morgan had put him through but failed to capitalise, James Firth's shot was deflected wide and Mathers was brought down in the box (referee waved away appeals for a penalty), as Thackley looked to add to their tally. Twice, Roslund saved from Mathers in quick succession, before a long range effort from Davey went wide. The home side were asking questions of the Eccleshill defence. With fifteen remaining the Dennyboys went close again, Mathers came tearing in but just failed to get his head to a Matt Morgan cross, Hopkins did but Roslund saved at the foot of the post. Two minutes later, Mathers did get his head to a Morgan cross, this time glancing in onto the post. Little was seen of Eccleshill pushing forward at this time, when they did, the home defenders were more than able to contain their forwards. A Mathers shot was hooked over the bar by Eccleshill defender, Ishmael Mills, before Thackley made a change, Josh Eastwood coming on for Garrod. In the dying minutes of the match, Thackley had to withstand a final surge from the Eagles, they won a number of corners in quick succession before Connor Shefte put an Edwards cross wide when well placed. At the final whistle, one goal was enough to extend Thackley's winning run to five and clean sheets to three, as well as to progress to Monday's Second Round draw. Overall, Thackley just about deserved their victory because of their second half performance. They were probably lucky to have been a goal to the good at the break but they did create quite a few chances in the second half. Full credit to Eccleshill for the way they played, they had certainly made Thackley work hard for their victory.

The Dennyboys return to league action on Tuesday night with a difficult game at Worksop Parramore. Rumoured to have one of the largest player budgets in the league, they have only lost twice in the eleven matches they have played, although they have drawn on two other occasions.

Thackley team: Convey; Hopkins; M Morgan (C); Whiteley; Firth; Hudson; Davey; L Morgan; Mathers; Garrod (Eastwood); Hall. Subs not used : Scott; Tasker.

Eccleshill United team: Roslund; Mills; Shefte; Diem (C) (Tarango); Jones; Patillo; Balis; Harbach; Edwards; McCabe; Hart (Brisbane). subs not used : Man; Isaac; Smith.

Thackley scorer: Matt Morgan 45 mins

Attendance: 147

Referee: Neil Munday