Thackley AFC were defeated on a rain-soaked afternoon at Horbury Town, despite an excellent first-half display that saw the Dennyboys take a deserved two-goal lead. The match was very much a story of two half’s, with conditions worsening as the match progressed. Horbury capitalised in the second half to turn the game around and claim all three points.

Thackley started brightly and immediately put pressure on the hosts. Inside two minutes, a deep free-kick caused problems and fell to Keanan Mannings, whose strike from the edge of the box forced Horbury onto the back foot.

The positive start continued when Toby Marriott found space to shoot on eight minutes, dragging his effort narrowly wide.

The breakthrough arrived on eleven minutes, and it was well earned. A good passing move from Parkinson to Walker, found Luke Brooks who delivered a dangerous cross that the Horbury goalkeeper failed to deal with, pushing the ball into the path of Hass Gorji, who reacted quickest to slot home from close range.

Thackley remained on top and came close again when Brooks and Gorji combined to release Paul Walker, though his cross lifted just over the bar. Moments later, a long throw from Mannings dropped again to Walker, whose scissor-kick effort also just cleared the bar.

The Dennyboys doubled their lead on twenty five minutes with a clinical move. Walker threaded a superb pass into Marriott, who rounded the goalkeeper and finished confidently to make it 2–0.

Horbury responded with a spell of pressure late in the half, but Liam Wilson stood firm with two excellent saves—first denying a close-range effort on 41 minutes and then tipping another attempt over the bar. However, from the resulting corner in stoppage time, the ball stopped dead in the "heavy" penalty area following an attempted clearance and the hosts scrambled the ball over the line to halve the deficit.

HALF TIME: Horbury Town 1-2 Thackley AFC

The teams emerged for the second half into heavy rain, and the pitch quickly deteriorated further. Both sides struggled to move the ball with any fluency.

A sharp passing move between Brooks, Marriott and Walker on 57 minutes produced a promising opening, but the cross was gathered by the Horbury keeper.

A minute later, the conditions played a decisive role as another corner saw a loose ball again held up in the six-yard box, allowing Horbury to force home the equaliser.

The hosts completed the turnaround on the sixty second minute, with Jagger capitalising on a poor clearance to fire low past Wilson with a good strike from an angle.

Two minutes later, Horbury struck again on the counter-attack, breaking down the left before delivering a low ball across the box which was turned into an empty net by Playford who had ghosted in.

Thackley made changes in an attempt to regain control bringing on Nathan Hunt , Thomas Whelan and Mason Wilson , but the worsening surface made flowing football increasingly difficult. Mannings was booked for a challenge on halfway, and substitute Mason Wilson was also shown a yellow card shortly after coming on.

In the closing stages, Thackley continued to battle to try get back into the match. Alex Washington beat his full-back on 86 minutes and forced a save at the near post, while Wilson made another vital stop a minute later at the other end to prevent further damage.

FULL TIME: Horbury Town 4-2 Thackley AFC

A strong first-half performance and goals from Hass Gorji and Toby Marriott gave Thackley a deserved lead at the break, but the second-half conditions proved decisive. Horbury adapted better to the heavy pitch and scored three times after the restart to secure the victory.

The Dennyboys return to NCEL Premier Division action midweek (weather permitting) when they head to South Yorkshire to face Wombwell Town in an already rearranged fixture.

Horbury Town team: Day, Swain, Playford, Fell, Angell, Travis, Asamoah, Whittaker, Jagger, Nzondo, Rodrigues,
Subs: Kyeremeh, Hobson, Brayshaw, Feirn, Bojang

Thackley AFC team: L.Wilson, Gibbon (M.Wilson 74'), Parkinson, Washington, Coates (Whelan 67'), Sugden, Brooks (Hunt 59’), Mannings, Marriott, Gorji, Walker.
Unused subs: Basi

Horbury Town scorers:: Asamoah (43'); (Unknown 58'); Jagger (64'); Playford (66')

Thackley AFC scorers: Gorji (9’); Marriott (23')