Tadcaster Albion sign off for regular season with below-par display, but still manage to sink Handsworth FC
Ryan Qualter was pleased to see his Tadcaster Albion side sign off for the regular season with a seventh consecutive victory, despite conceding that they were not at their best against Handsworth.
The Brewers, who had already guaranteed themselves an NCEL Premier Division play-off spot, cemented a fourth-placed finish courtesy of Saturday’s 4-2 success at Ings Lane.
Strikes from from Billy Marshall, Oliver Norman, Jayden Thompson and an own goal ensured that Albion rounded things off on a high note, just four days after the club beat Barnoldswick Town 3-0 to reach the West Riding County Cup final.
And, although Qualter felt that they struggled to reach the levels they have set in recent weeks when they entertained Handsworth, he put that down to the amount of football his troops have had to play of late.
"I thought that in the first half, we were pretty poor, to be honest,” he said.
"There were a lot of tired legs and we made a few changes because we had to with injuries, and we needed to rest some bodies.
"We found ourselves 2-0 up, but we were a little bit disappointed that we didn’t really control the game as well as we should have going into half-time, and we gave them a goal.
"But, second half, I thought that we came out and did really well. And, credit to the substitutes. We brought on some of our young lads and they have performed well.
"So, that was a real positive, and it was just nice to end the regular season at home with three points.”
Tadcaster travel to Sheffield FC this Saturday (3pm) for their play-off semi-final, with the winner of that game set to face either Beverley Town or Barton Town in the final.