Evo-Stik League Division One North: Kendal Town 0 Tadcaster Albion 1

TADCASTER Albion extended their unbeaten league run to five matches after a single-goal victory at Kendal Town.

The only goal came from the penalty spot in the final minute of the first half.

Billy Whitehouse was crunched in the area, leaving referee Ed Duckworth with no choice but to point to the spot, and Aaron Hardy converted.

The Brewers had to withstand heaps of pressure in the second half but the rearguard, and in particularly keeper Michael Ingham, showed their solidarity and class.

Albion manager Michael Morton named an unchanged team, with new signing Mitch Langton on the bench.

Taddy started brightly in the Cumbrian sunshine, and Aiden Savory curled a shot inches wide on three minutes.

Town's first opportunity came five minutes later as Robert Bowman slipped at the crucial moment, resulting in him skewing his shot wide.

The Brewers were certainly the better team in the opening stages as they looked dangerous in the final third via Billy Whitehouse, Casey Stewart and Aiden Savory.

Savory was giving the Kendal centre backs a tough encounter, and shortly after the quarter-hour, good defending from Josh Barrett led to the Albion forward being dragged down by Paul Alexander.

He was the last defender but some 40 yards from goal, so the referee chose to brandish a yellow card.

Albion continued to threaten, and Brewers defender Fraser Papprill's acrobatic volley was deflected just over.

Ingham was only called into action once in the first 45 minutes but it was a super save high to his left to keep out Steven Yawson's side-footed strike.

As the Brewers continued to be in the ascendency on a pitch that cut up horrendously, Chris Howarth passed up on the chance to shoot from close range after Stewart squared and opted to tee up Corey Roper but he sliced wide with the outside of his foot.

Moments later, Casey Stewart slid a divine ball in behind, allowing Whitehouse to exploit the space and round goalkeeper Matthew Johnson, but Ben Thomas recovered just in time to block the shot.

However, the two came together again on the stroke of half-time, and this time the Kendal defender was late, rash and used excessive force on Whitehouse, resulting in a stonewall penalty.

Full back Hardy picked up the ball and surprisingly placed it on what was a mound of mud.

That didn't faze the experienced defender, however, who coolly side-footed past Johnson to give the Brewers the lead at the break.

'The Mintcakes' started the second half with greater intensity, and Hardy cleared Martin Grundy's sliding strike off the line.

Taddy were being put under the cosh as Robert Bowman jinked his way deep into the penalty area but just as the striker was about to pull the trigger, Roper timed his tackle perfectly to stab the ball clear.

Ingham wasn't necessarily busy between the sticks but when he was called upon he had to make high-quality saves.

The pick of the bunch was on the hour, with the defence static and appealing for offside, but the flag never came and Bowman was denied by the outstretched foot of the Northern Irishman.

As Kendal pushed more bodies forward to try and salvage something, this left space for Taddy to counter, and they should have made sure of the points with 15 minutes left.

Whitehouse put in an incredible shift for the Brewers but couldn't cap his brilliant performance with a goal after superbly turning away from his man in the area but firing straight at Johnson.

Ingham was starting to get more and more angry with his side as they couldn't keep hold of the ball, allowing wave after wave of Kendal attacks.

However, having said that, for all the pressure that Albion were under, there were few noteworthy chances for the home side after a final free-kick was gleefully claimed by Ingham.