A pair of braces from Lewis Sugden and Alex Ingham, alongside a Paul Walker goal, secured an emphatic 5-1 win for Thackley against strugglers Keighley Town.

A quiet start to the game saw the ball spending plenty of time in the air as the teams looked to gain some early momentum, with a couple of corners being the only moments of note.

The 11th minute would see the first big opportunity for Thackley when a Sugden free kick looked to be going to the head of Ingham, but the forward would only just miss the ball as it went out for a goal kick.

Just two minutes later, a low cross from Reuben Bartkiw would be cleared away for Thackley’s next corner, with Sugden unleashing a superb delivery into the box that saw the ball sail straight into the net with some assistance from Alfie Gibbon, giving Thackley the advantage early on.

The lead was almost extended after 17 minutes when a cross from Bartkiw was received by Walker, whose first time volley didn’t have the power and was cleared away by the Keighley back line.

The 21st minute saw Keighley have some promising set pieces that they were able to capitalise on thanks to Tom Greaves, who nodded home a Lewis Gartland corner to bring the game back level, but with plenty of time to go.

Just as quickly as Keighley had levelled, Thackley were back ahead after a flick on from Ingham found Walker, who restored Thackley’s advantage with a low effort into the bottom right hand corner that easily had the beating of Daniel Thorpe, adding to the intrigue of what had been an exciting first half up to this stage.

The 28th minute would see a rare blunder from Ingham up top, who despite Bartkiw getting another cross away after a mistake from Gibbon, Ingham was unable to take his chance, with a scuffed effort being saved by Thorpe and cleared away.

Bartkiw would almost have a goal of his own after 33 minutes after he capitalised on a quick throw in and a Keighley in complete disarray to have a clear effort at goal that whilst it had some power, was saved and cleared for a corner to the hosts.

Following this chance, the rest of the half would pass with little of note as the game became a very physical affair, with the next goal perhaps being the most vital yet.

After a brief added time period, the referee would bring the half to a close with Thackley deservedly ahead, but with Keighley far from out of the game, even without forward James Hanson, who was substituted early on.

HALF TIME: Thackley AFC 2-1 Keighley Town

Keighley would start the second half on top, but Thackley would do exceptionally well to keep them at bay, with the best moment coming in the 52nd minute when a run from Lewis Gartland was defended impeccably by Sam Walters, who never gave up and managed a clearance to the feet of Alex Washington, allowing him to take the ball away from the area and up the pitch.

The Dennyboys would almost capitalise on this after 54 minutes, with a pass to the feet of Luke Brooks setting up the midfielder for an ideal opportunity, but despite putting some finesse on the effort, Thorpe would make another good save to keep Keighley in it.

Thorpe’s heroics almost yielded a desired effect for the visitors shortly after when another good run from Gartland set up Greaves for a first time opportunity on his right foot that looked to be going in, only for the post to come to Thackley’s rescue and prevent a Keighley equaliser.

After this spell of pressure from Keighley, Thackley would look to steady the ship, but not before a 64th minute opportunity for substitute Nick Hepple, whose effort from just outside the box narrowly went over the bar with a deflection.

As Thackley managed to re-establish some momentum, they would be rewarded after 73 minutes when they won a penalty, with Sugden sending Thorpe the wrong way from the resulting spot kick to give Thackley a two goal lead at an important point of the game, whilst also giving them some much needed room to breathe.

Things almost got even worse for Keighley on the 78 minute mark when following a sending off for manager James Gill, a superb passing move set up Ingham for what looked like an easy first time finish, but yet another fantastic save from Thorpe prevented this.

As the game began to wind down, the Dennyboys weren’t letting up in their pursuit of further goals, with one almost coming in the 87th minute when a link up between Ingham and King saw the former attempt a low first time opportunity, but it could only go wide of the mark and away.

Just as the game entered the stoppage time period, the outcome would be placed beyond doubt by Ingham, who finally got his goal after a superb cross from Bartkiw was connected with by the forward, who tapped the ball in with his first touch to confirm an emphatic victory.

Salt would be added to the wounds of Keighley even more in stoppage time itself after some excellent work in midfield allowed King to win the ball back from the visitors and send Ingham through on goal, with the forward bagging his brace thanks to a powerful effort against Thorpe to seal his sixth goal in four games for the Dennyboys.

Shortly after this, the referee would bring an end to the encounter with Keighley well beaten in their quest to gain a first victory of the season, despite having some good moments.

Meanwhile, this result sees Thackley gain their fourth consecutive league win, a fantastic milestone in what is becoming a promising season after the difficult opening the team had.

FULL TIME: Thackley AFC 5-1 Keighley Town

Thackley return to the league on Saturday as they travel to Knaresborough Town for their first reverse fixture of the league season.

Thackley AFC team: Wilson, Walters, McDaid, Washington, Basi, Sugden (Figurny 90+’), Bartkiw, Whelan, Ingham, Brooks (Clothier 69’), Walker (King 66’).

Keighley Town team: Thorpe, Hunt, Gibbon (Morgan 75’), Staunton, Shaw, Mannings, C. Chippendale (Belcher 69’), A. Chippendale (Kavanagh 60’), Hanson (Hepple 29’), Greaves, Gartland (Ponter 81’).

Thackley AFC scorers: Sugden (13’, 73’), Walker (24’), Ingham (90’, 90+’).

Keighley Town scorer: Greaves (21’).