Another glorious Saturday afternoon, weather wise, and Thackley entertained Rainworth Miners Welfare in a Toolstation Northern Counties East Premier Division match. Kristian Hargreaves was unavailable and Elliott Scott replaced him. George Eustance was preferred to Aodhan Brownlee.

Thackley began brightly on an impressive looking surface. Their midfield inter- passing creating space to feed the wide players. Farrell, in particular, was receiving plenty of service and was continuously testing the Rainworth full back Daniel Claridge. Declan Howe and Pat McGuire were dominating midfield and what possession Rainworth gained tended to fizzle out with long balls forward which were easily dealt with by the Thackley defenders. It was no surprise, therefore, that Thackley’s dominance at this stage resulted in them taking the lead. Farrell was released once more down the right and he cut inside to finish with some composure past keeper Townsend. This spurred the home team into a period of dominance and they were unlucky not to increase their lead when Farrell, again causing problems for the Rainworth defence, saw his shot rebound from the inside of the post.

Half time: Thackley 1 Rainworth MW 0

After such a promising opening half Thackley began the second in very desultory fashion. They struggled to control the play and gradually Rainworth were beginning to dominate proceedings. They began to push more players forward and were putting together sustained periods of possession. This was creating increasing problems for the home defence. It was no surprise then when Rainworth fashioned an equaliser. The referee awarded a dubious free kick wide on the left hand side. The ball was hoisted to the far post, Convey was unconvincing in coming to collect it and the ball hit Josh Snowden and was deflected into the net. Soon after that Joyce replaced Eustance and Thackley began to reassert themselves. Their second goal came from a free kick awarded on Daniel Broadbent to the left hand side of the goal. Again the ball was played to the far post. Jerry White was unable to meet it but he retrieved the ball and crossed once more into the box. Rather fortuitously Ben Joyce got a touch which wrong footed Townsend and crept over the line into the net. The final goal was a classic coup de grace as Rainworth pushed forward, an excellent ball from Declan Howe released Farrell whose low cross was efficiently converted by Broadbent.

Rainworth’s period of dominance was a disconcerting feature of the game for Thackley but they managed to achieve a level of cohesion towards the end of the match which resulted in them gaining all three points.

Final score: Thackley 3 Rainworth M W 1

Thackley team: Convey, Foulds, Scott, McGuire, White, Snowden, Farrell, Howe, Broadbent, Bentham, Eustance. Subs: Joyce, Hudson, Brownlee, Jones, Wilson.

Thackley scorers: Ryan Farrell, Ben Joyce, Daniel Broadbent.

Attendance 82

Photo: The Terrace (Saltaire) Man of the Match - Ryan Farrell.