Goalscorer Conor’s a Thorne in Alton’s side
Winger scores but sees red 10 minutes later in narrow Tadley triumph
TADLEY Calleva won for the eighth game in a row at Barlows Park, beating Alton 1-0 despite being reduced to 10 men for an hour.
The deciding goal came 20 minutes in when Kieran Rodgers pulled the ball back from the byline to Conor Thorne, who made no mistake with the finish to hand the Tadders the lead.
And Tadley had the ball in the back of the net again five minutes later, only for the goal to be chalked out for an apparent foul on Alton’s goalkeeper.
Some 10 minutes later and Thorne went from hero to villain when he was given his marching orders following two yellow cards within two minutes of each other, leaving the Tadders with an hour to hold on.
As it was, Tadley remained resolute and, despite a couple of late chances for Alton, preserved their clean sheet to pick up three hard-fought points.
The result keeps Tadley eighth in the Combined Counties
Premier Division South table, with at least one game in hand on four of the sides above them.
Ben Dillon, Tadley’s joint manager, said: “It was a tough game, but we were in control before the red card.
“We don’t have too many complaints about the sending off, Conor’s slipped for the second one and it was an accident but it doesn’t look great and I
can see why the referee’s given it.
“The most pleasing thing was how we reacted, we held out and limited Alton’s chances. We didn’t come under much pressure until the last 15 minutes.
“We’re much better at home than we are away at the minute, the fans have been brilliant, numbers have tripled since last season.
“I think there are still areas we can improve, but as a team we’ve come on leaps and bounds.”
Tadley’s North Hampshire Senior Cup quarter-final was postponed in midweek with Barlows Park waterlogged, the tie rescheduled on November 22.
Tadley are on the road this weekend, taking on ninthplaced Farnham Town.