AFTER the high of a late winner against Staveley Miners Welfare on Saturday, Thackley have been brought back down to earth with a bump over the last few days.

First, they lost their big Bradford derby with Eccleshill United in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, going down 2-1 on Tuesday after playing for nearly an hour with 10 men.

Then, yesterday, they announced that talented forwards Asa Mitchell and Luke Robinson had departed the club.

In the league game on Tuesday, it was Lee Elam's Eccleshill who started brightest, and Luke Aldrich put them 1-0 up after five minutes, with his powerful drive sneaking under Thackley stopper Luke Wilson.

Wilson made amends with some good work to prevent a second soon after, before the Dennyboys started to get on top for the first time.

But that dominance was short-lived, with Albert Ibrahimi shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident.

Despite that red card for Thackley, Eccleshill could not put their opponents away, with Wilson making a fine save from Aldrich early in the second half.

A couple more half-chances went begging for the Eagles, and they were made to pay when Lewis Waddington equalised following a corner, which came about after a great save from Ed Wilczynski

That inspired the Dennyboys and they began to dominate despite their numerical disadvantage.

But they were floored by a late sucker punch.

Eccleshill substitute Alex Cusack was put through on goal with seven minutes left, and though Wilson saved his initial shot, he tapped home the rebound to win the game for his side.

Albion also lost in midweek, going down 1-0 at home to Penistone Church last night. Nathan Keightley grabbed the winner for the Sheffield-based side on the stroke of half-time.

There was some good news for Albion this week though, as they confirmed the signing of talented young forward Aidan Nagi from Maltby Main.

Of all the Bradford District sides in the division, it is Silsden who have started the season brightest. They moved up to third after beating Goole 2-0 on the road, with the prolific Joe Jagger at the double.