Thackley 1, Arnold Town 0

A merited home victory made Thackley mathematically safe from relegation out of the Northern Counties East Premier Division.

It was increasingly unlikely that the Dennyfield outfit would have been dragged into the bottom two places but it was still a milestone that boss John Boyle wanted to pass before the last two games.

As at many grounds over the weekend, there was an icy blast at Dennyfield and Thackley were playing against that in the first half. That was underlined when home keeper Danny Trueman was tested by a speculative, wind-assisted lob but he back-tracked rapidly and tipped the ball over.

As expected, Thackley had it easier in the second half when they played with the elements and fashioned the only goal of the game. A free-kick near the halfway line in the 53rd minute was launched forward by Liam Bartle and Matt Mathers leapt highest to head home.

Arnold had the ball in the net ten minutes later but none of their players complained when it was ruled out for offside. Thackley's Danny Forrest was also stopped in his tracks by the offside flag on two occasions late on and also scuffed a shot over from a Paul Helliwell cross.

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8:59pm Sunday 20th April 2008

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