Denham is all the rage in Tadley triumph
Tadley Calleva made it nine wins from 10 – five from five in the league – with a 2-1 Combined Counties Premier Division South triumph over bottom side Banstead Athletic.
It was an enthralling contest in which Brett Denham notched his 250th goal for the Tadders before two sensational second half strikes within 60 seconds of each other decided the contest.
The deadlock was broken 35 minutes in when Ben Wright’s free-kick cannoned back off the post and into the path of the prolific Denham who tapped home from close range, a milestone moment for the evergreen frontman.
After a scrappy start to the second half, the visitors equalised in the 55th minutes when Banstead’s impressive captain Joe Adoo Peters produced a moment of real quality.
Collecting a stray pass from Wright, the left-footed centre-half carried the ball from his own half before cutting inside and bending the ball beyond James Andrews with his weaker foot.
Not to be outdone, the excellent Aaron Parfitt spotted Devon Gordon off his line from the restart and lobbed the hapless goalkeeper from 50 yards to restore Tadley’s lead after Banstead had been level for less than a minute.
That was how it remained until full time, the Tadders now eighth in the league but with games in hand on four of the sides above them.
“Winning is a great habit, we’re delighted with how we’re doing,” Ben Dillon, Tadley’s joint manager, said.
“It was a difficult game, a little bit frustrating, Banstead were well organised, hard-working and difficult to break down.
“It wasn’t our best performance but we did enough to win it, that’s what good teams do.
“We’re buzzing for Brett, he’s a legend at Tadley, it was probably one of his easiest goals.
“He does what all good strikers do, he was in the right place at the right time, I’m really pleased for him.
“We were a bit disappointed with the goal, we switched off, I thought Banstead deserved to get back into it, we let our levels slip.
“Aaaron’s scored a brilliant winner, he had a great game in midfield, it was a real moment of class.
“We saw the game out well, it’s another three points in the bag.”
Next up in the league, Tadley face a testing trip to unbeaten Jersey Bulls – who have won five of their six matches – at the weekend.
