The Dennyfield faithful may have been outsung by a boisterous but friendly contingent of Colne supporters but it was their club who were in today's FA Vase draw as one of the last 32 in the country.

It is the second season in succession that Thackley have reached the fourth round and they deserve to be there. The Lancashire club's fans trooped dejectedly away on Saturday but their players stood toe-to-toe with their opponents and when they shook hands, the mutual respect was obvious.

Colne had dominated possession in the early stages, looking comfortable on the ball as they marauded forward. They even took the lead in the second half but were then forced back by the resilient home side.

"I must admit I was worried when they went in front; I wondered if we were going to get back in it," said Thackley boss John Boyle.

"But full credit to my players, they battled well. I think over the whole game we just about edged it. Colne are a very good side but for all their possession early on they didn't really make our keeper work.

"In fact, we created the best two chances of the first half. Their keeper made two very good saves, one in each half, and we had other chances that I thought the

players involved should have done better with.

"However, that is academic now as we have got the win and we are in the draw. It is national at this stage so we could get any of the sides left in it. I think I would like a home tie but it's not really that important."

Boyle will probably back his team to go anywhere and have a chance of winning after the performance against Colne. It was measured, energetic, composed and liberally sprinkled with skilful cameos.

Young goalkeeper Matthew Everard's biggest concern was maintaining his

concentration levels. He did that more like an old-stager than a fresh-faced rookie.

On the few occasions Craig Sugden found himself under pressure, sweeper Brian Brooks was never far away.

The forwards were lively, the support players hard-working and the wing backs tireless. It was an impressive display from a side who know the meaning of teamwork.

Simon Oliver twice got in a good position early on but put in a weak header and sliced a later shot well wide.

Home skipper Sugden suffered a painful knock and visiting midfielder Ted Crocket went down under a challenge from Mark Senior on the halfway line.

The injuries were minutes apart and both needed long spells of treatment, stemming the flow of the game. Arguably it affected Colne far more than it did the home side.

Just before the half-hour mark a clever chip through by Andy King just eluded Joel Etienne as the home side began to assert themselves. Colne keeper Ross Baxter pulled off the save of the game minutes later when, at full stretch, he held on to a fierce drive from Lee Reilly.

Colne continued to have half-chances until the home side came out with real purpose at the start of the second half. That had a negative effect as the visitors broke the deadlock against the run of play.

Midway through the second half Carl Haworth broke through down the inside right channel and slid a pass to Paul Forsyth. The winger was just inside the right corner of Thackley's area and he threaded a low shot into the bottom

corner of the unsighted Everard's net.

Five minutes later Dean Walters made it all square with a tremendous strike from outside the box while on the run. He gathered possession, took two paces to create space for the shot and then lashed a left-foot drive high into the net.

In the 78th minute Colne conceded a needless and silly free-kick inside the centre circle and Thackley's Mark Senior stood over it. His forward punt was crossed by King to skipper Sugden and

he headed back for Adam Johnson, who finished with a bullet header.