Bradford derby sees Thackley win as Eccleshill woes goes on

In the end, it was the hosts who claimed victory to keep up their Northern Counties East League Premier Division play-off push, player-manager Tom Greaves scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory.

That meant further misery for Eccleshill in what is proving to be a dismal season for them, as they remain just two points off the foot of the table.

The Dennyboys were unsurprising dominant from the outset, Finn Donovan and Joe Mitchell both coming close to giving them the lead inside the opening 10 minutes.

Eccleshill keeper Stephen Fearnley then had to be on hand to save from both George Green and Greaves, the latter almost netting with a spectacular overhead kick.

But Jahro Parchment forced a good stop from Thackley’s Luke Wilson midway through the first half as Eccleshill flexed their own attacking muscles.

The game entered a bit of a lull thereafter, with Donovan’s strike from a tight angle flying over the bar in the only other chance worthy of note before the break.

Eccleshill came close early in the second half, with Zack Sangster firing over when well placed before another good chance was put wide moments later by the visitors.

Donovan had a long-range effort well saved by Fearnley after 53 minutes, but Greaves gave Thackley the lead almost immediately after that chance.

Some good work by Thackley left-back Harry Parsons saw him slip a ball through to the player-boss, which Alex Laird came agonisingly close to cutting out.

He was unable to do so however, allowing Greaves the chance to set himself and fire the ball past Fearnley to give the hosts the lead.

Thackley were dominant thereafter, in front of a healthy crowd of 320 spectators.

Kieran Suddards saw his volley deflected out for a corner, before Liam Hudson struck an effort narrowly wide.

Suddards saw a long-range effort come back off the crossbar with 15 minutes to go, before Eccleshill were reduced to 10 men.

Idris Atta was a little unlucky, as he was dismissed for a second yellow card for bringing down Suddards when the Thackley man was through on goal.

Idris Atta (8) sees red after bringing down Kieran Suddards (4). (Image: Martin Taylor.)

Ben Grech-Brooksbank fired the subsequent free-kick wide and while Eccleshill threatened with one late counter-attack, their race was run.

Fearnley made a good stop from Hudson’s header in injury-time, and while Suddards was sin-binned for dissent in the dying moments to make it 10 versus 10, Thackley held on to claim victory.

If Eccleshill made Thackley work hard for their win, their fellow strugglers Maltby Main did the same at home to leaders Campion.

The hosts took a shock lead with a first-half penalty, only for the Red and Blacks to come from behind to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Nicky Boshell and Paddy Sykes after the break.

That allowed Campion to stretch their lead at the summit to four points after second-placed Emley could only manage a 1-1 draw at lowly Knaresborough Town.

Albion Sports stayed fourth after battling back from 2-0 down against visitors Penistone Church, with a Robbie Fox penalty and a late goal from skipper Aran Basi securing them a point with a 2-2 draw.

Albion’s play-off rivals and neighbours Silsden slipped to ninth after a disappointing 2-1 away defeat at struggling Pickering Town.

Casey Stewart gave the Cobbydalers the lead, only for former Bradford (Park Avenue) striker Omar Sanyang to score two late goals to ensure a win for the hosts.

In a bizarre finale, Sanyang put a last-minute penalty wide in attempting to score his hat-trick, before his side finished the game with nine men after having one player sent off for a dive, his second yellow card, and another dismissed for an off-the-ball scuffle, in stoppage time.

Steeton are not in North West Counties Football League Division One North action this month due to gas supply issues at their Marley ground, while their tenants and divisional rivals Route One Rovers were also not playing on Saturday.

But Liversedge were most certainly in action in the Northern Premier League East Division, and they moved up to 11th with a thrilling 4-2 win over Bridlington Town at their Clayborn ground, Liam Hardy scoring twice for the hosts.

Brighouse Town had a flat afternoon though, slipping to 13th after a poor 3-1 defeat at Grantham Town, with their hosts jumping off the foot of the table as a result.

Guiseley suffered an equally disappointing day at Nethermoor.

They would have moved into the NPL Premier Division play-off places with a victory at home to lowly Gainsborough Trinity, but instead contrived to lose 1-0.

Liam Denton hit the post for the Lions with an early second-half penalty, and the hosts were left to rue that missed chance when Gainsborough netted an 89th minute winner.

This missed penalty from Liam Denton on Saturday ended up proving hugely costly for Guiseley. (Image: Alex Daniel.)

Finally, in National League North, mid-table Farsley Celtic claimed a creditable 0-0 draw at seventh-placed Curzon Ashton.

It was a fine game, which saw the Celts hit the woodwork twice and visiting keeper Zan-Luk Leban makes some brilliant saves.

Therefore, thanks to a post, a crossbar and a Slovenian Under-21 international, a fine game somehow ended goalless.