'Future is bright for Tigers,' despite defeat

Four players made their debuts, including 16-year-old Christian Beaumont, and won praise from stand-in manager Lee Carlin and Tigers defender Jonathan Bownes, who said the future was bright for the Tigers.

They said: “Christian at right back was excellent. He didn’t look out of place and kept the ball really well.”

The other debutants were Joel Phillips, Luke Smith and Jamie Robinson and the temporary management — manager Duncan Milligan and his assistant, John Buckley, were in America due to work commitments — added: “Luke who came on kept everything simple, he didn’t give the ball away, The future is bright. It’s just about building and galvanising a squad that is going to gel and produce some sort of consistency for next season.”

Thackley, who survived a late sending-off, grabbed what proved to be the Northern Counties East League Premier Division winner in the eighth minute when Mike Garrod netted his seventh goal in three matches.

Worksop fought back well and looked dangerous in attack, but were unable to find a leveller.

The temporary management team added: “We are disappointed with the result, We were by far the better team. After saying that, we started very slow in the first 20 minutes, we couldn’t get a foothold.

“In the final third if the quality was better we would’ve been in with a chance of taking at least a point.”

Carlin and Bownes said despite missing several players, those coming into the side were capable.

They added: “The players that were out there were good enough to win that football game.

“We wanted the players to come out and prove a point.”

Keeper Jason Alexander also won praise. “He was brilliant. His kicking was brilliant, his talking was brilliant and he made some fantastic saves.

“He needs to kick on know and make a name for himself at this football club. People like him should have a career in football and he’s shown that today.”