Match Preview

It is back to league action on Saturday for Thackley after their victory on Tuesday night against Knaresborough in the County Cup. Bottesford Town, making their fourth visit to Dennyfield, are the opponents. Relative new comers to the NCEL (2007), they won promotion to the top division in 2016 which means the teams have met on six previous occasions. The Poachers shade the bragging rights from those encounters having won three with one of the games finishing all square. That was last season at Thackley, Bottesford won the reverse fixture at Birkdale Park with a controversial penalty and a 90th minute goal. The visitors have not had the best start to the season and currently have seven points from eight games. A win on the opening day against Albion Sports and victory last weekend against AFC Mansfield (5-0) have given them six of that total. After such an emphatic win, perhaps they thought they had turned the corner but were beaten by our local rivals Eccleshill on Wednesday night. However, they are still in the FA Vase and play West Allotment Celtic in the First Round later this month.

Thackley had a reasonable start to the season and in early September were top of the table for a few days. Since then their form has deserted them somewhat and up to Tuesday night they had lost their previous four games. However, in what manager Pat McGuire described as a ‘scruffy win’, they stopped the rot in the County Cup against Knaresborough with a hard fought victory. Points are needed in order to maintain their position in the top half of the table and Thackley will be hoping that having home advantage and boosted by the mid week win they can add to their tally in this game.