Knaresborough Town reap rewards of off-season dedication during opening-day win at Thackley AFC
Simon Parkes felt that his Knaresborough Town players reaped the rewards of their off-season dedication during Saturday’s opening-day win at Thackley.
The Manse Lane outfit kicked off their 2026/27 NCEL Premier Division campaign with an impressive result on the road, triumphing 4-2 at Dennyfield.
With the game level at 2-2, Boro finished strongly and netted twice in the dying minutes to take all three points.
And boss Parkes believes that their victory owed much to the work his troops have put in over the summer months.
"It is always brilliant to get off the mark on the opening day and it was very pleasing to see the lads get their rewards for the commitment and dedication they have shown behind closed doors,” he told the Harrogate Advertiser.
"Pre-season is always a weird one because it’s not really about the results. And, as much as results haven’t gone our way, this summer has probably been the most refreshing from my point of view in terms of how the lads have applied themselves.
"They’ve worked so hard for four or five weeks. We’ve had 20-25 lads training every session and they’ve all bought into the culture that we have tried to create.
"We’ve set expectations for where we want to get to collectively and individually, and the players have bought into that. The fitness levels I am seeing now, we probably didn’t reach those at certain times last season.
“Our fitness was evident against Thackley. We’ve lifted our standards and Saturday certainly showed that.”
Knaresborough enjoyed most of the early possession, but were stunned in the eighth minute when the home side broke down the right and an early cross was volleyed home superbly by Hass Gorji.
The visitors’ reward for their positive start to the match did however materialise in the 26th minute.
A Jack Lazenby free-kick from the left was curled across goal and Dan Thirkell nodded it back for Jack Dyche to head in from close range.
Ben Gelder then had a shot saved before both goalkeeper dealt with long range free kicks.
Two minutes after the break, Boro moved ahead following a quick break down the left.
Ben Gelder delivered a low cross into the box and Lionico Gama, under pressure from Aaron White, knocked the ball into his own net.
Within a minute, Thackley got back on terms through Olaf Figurny, who fired low past Edd Hall.
Slater Barnes and James Hampson both came close to putting Knaresborough back in front as the away side finished the stronger of the sides, and a fifth goal of the afternoon eventually arrived.
With 89 minutes on the clock, Barnes supplied a superb centre from the left for substitute Luke Stewart to finish with his first touch since entering the fray.
Thackley pushed hard for an equaliser during seven minutes of stoppage time, only for Alex Ingham to break free, round Liam Wilson and slide home for 4-2.
“It’s good to get that first win straight away because you don’t want the pressure building,” Parkes added.
"And it was nice to buck the trend of drawing 0-0 on the opening day like Knaresborough have done for the last few years.
"But, I think that the most rewarding thing was how strong our performance was.
"Thackley are a good team and obviously we were away from home. But I believe we shaded the match overall and then finished very strongly.
"We put a lot of ball into the box and created plenty of chances, so I feel that we were very worthy winners.”
Next up for Boro is a trip to Bottesford Town this Saturday afternoon (3pm).