Thackley 1 Staveley MW 2

A LATE winner from Ellis Hall was enough for visitors Staveley MW to win a battle of ten men at Dennyfield.

Thackley and their opponents were reduced in numbers following an off-the-ball incident in the 42nd minute. Staveley substitute Jack Watts had been on for barely 90 seconds when he tangled with Dennyboys centre-back Sam Cook.

The referee had to consult with his assistant before taking action, showing Watts a straight red card and the home side’s James Sutcliffe a second yellow for his reaction to the incident.

The melee and the deliberations of the officials led to the first half lasting 53 minutes. Both managers made their feeling known to the referee before joining their players in the dressing rooms.

Staveley were a goal to the good by then after Ross Goodwin had broken the deadlock in the 14th minute. He was allowed to run through from midfield and his well-struck shot from distance dipped over Dennyboys keeper Ed Hall, who was a little off his line.

Thackley lost skipper Pat McGuire during the interval to injury, debutant Dougie Stevenson replacing him.

The Dennyboys had the visitors on the back-foot for most of the second half and got a deserved equaliser 20 minutes in.

An excellent weaving run by Paul Whiteley was ended by a foul from Damian Magee. The defender claimed the contact was outside the area but the referee pointed to the spot and Mike Garrod fired the penalty high into the top left corner.

Minutes later Garrod just failed to convert a superb cross by Elliott Holmes and had the home side taken the lead they looked more than capable of holding it. However, from then the draining heavy pitch seemed to take its toll on them more than the visitors.

Staveley finished strongly and Ellis Wall snatched all three points with his winner four minutes from time. He drilled the ball in from the edge of the six-yard box following another good attacking move.