FA Vase tragedy for Thackley as missed penalty proves vital

The Northern League side won the game 1-0 after dominating the second half, but Thackley had the chance to go ahead in the 77th minute when striker Luke Robinson was shoved over in the box as he raced on to a through ball.

Robinson drilled his penalty low and hard, but keeper Shane Bland made a fine stop down to his right. Four minutes later, West Auckland substitute Adam Burnicle swept home the winner after a corner fell to him at the back post.

McGuire lamented: "We talk in football about fine margins. If we score the penalty I think we win, then they go up the other end and score a scruffy goal.

"There's no blame on anybody today. I thought it was an outstanding performance from our lads and on another day it could have been a different scoreline."

Thackley more than matched their strong opponents in the first half, with McGuire's set piece delivery causing West Auckland problems.

One header from a corner flashed across the face of goal, and they went close yet again after the player/manager returned the loose ball in.

West Auckland dominated possession in the second period with the wind in their favour, and striker Nathan Fisher missed a glorious opportunity when he slid the ball wide from 10 yards out.

They failed to create many clearcut chances, and young Ray Sibanda almost made the visitors pay with a fierce drive which was well saved by Bland.

The penalty was Thackley's big second half opportunity though, and the miss proved vital.

Thackley now turn their focus back to the league, but McGuire is confident despite his side sitting third-bottom.

He said: "I have no concerns about us going down. We have four games in hand on some teams due to our FA Vase run.

"We're not getting the rub of the green at the minute but we will turn the corner. There's plenty of games to go and if we keep performing like we did today, we'll be nowhere near the bottom come the end of the season."