By John Clothier

TADCASTER Albion suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat at home to Kendal Town in the Northern Premier League north/west division.

The Brewers occupy fifth spot in the table and are hunting a play-off spot, while Kendal are second from bottom and have the second-worst defensive record in the division.

However, a pair of quickfire first-half goals from Thomas Stead and Patrick Allington gave them victory over Taddy, who were without some key players.

Albion have the chance for quick revenge as this coming Saturday they travel to Cumbria for another meeting with Kendal.

Manager Paul Quinn was still without the injured Andy Milne, Mitch Pattinson and Stuart Mott, while keeper Michael Ingham was away on business. Ioan Evans took the captain’s armband.

Up front for the Mintcakes was son of former Bolton and West Ham keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, Emil, who had signed from Blackpool a few days earlier after a loan spell.

It was a good start from the hosts with Donald Chimalilo being caught offside early on after a delightful Jake Day through ball, and with seven minutes on the clock, Evans met a curling corner from Kevin Dos Santos but it was agonisingly wide.

Jake Rose launched a defence splitter from the Tadcaster half but Day’s bullet of a cross found nobody waiting in the six-yard box.

Then in four minutes of madness, Tadcaster found themselves two goals down. Mustapha Olegunju gave away a free kick just inside the home half from which Christian Sloan curled to full-back Stead, who guided his header beyond Aaron Burn.

To make matters worse, Allington found himself unmarked from six yards out as a ball was driven across the face of the goal to add a second.

Jaaskelainen was through for a one-on-one but Burn was first to the ball, while on the half-hour Adam Porritt and Lebrun Mbeka combined to put Day through but keeper Morgan Bacon was equal to the ferocious shot.

Kendal almost got another on 32 minutes as Joseph Dickson dribbled his way into the box but the ball was cleared and, as Taddy broke, Chimalilo put Mbeka through but the shot was deflected wide of the post.

Patterson put in a decent cross but the alert Burn was there to claim it, while on 36 minutes Chimalilo took advantage of Jack Vann’s pass but shot straight at Bacon. Samson got his head on the Town corner but it was deflected away from danger

With one minute of the half remaining, Chimalilo went on a trademark run into the Kendal box and was brought down by Twiname. Chimalilo dusted himself down to take the penalty but it was wide of the far post.

The half-time score did not mirror the Brewers' efforts in the opening 45, but the home side knew they had all the work to do in the second half.

Quinn made a tactical change for the restart with Damien Reeves replacing Olegunju, giving Chimalilo and Santos two target men to feed up front. It was Jack Walters on the left flank, however, who was causing the most problems to the visitors with his pinpoint crosses and overlapping down the wing.

On 50 minutes, Walters found Day some 12 yards out but the hooked shot, under pressure, lacked power. Almost immediately Chimalilo out-foxed the Kendal defence with a dummy move allowing Walters to get to the byline but, despite a quality cross, neither Day nor Reeves made contact.

Five minutes on, yet another precise Walters cross was met by Day, well-placed, but it was straight at the keeper. As Tadcaster pressed forward there was a loud shout for handball in the area but it was waved away. Walters' shot produced a good one-handed save from Bacon.

At the midway stage of the half, Chimalilo crossed from the left but there was too much pace on the ball for the front men to connect whilst Santos saw his speculative 20-yarder clear the bar. Will Annan came on for Porritt as Taddy threw everything at Kendal

Walters' last-ditch interception was vital as Town broke down the right with Jaaskelainen almost through for a one-on-one with Burn, but the visitors were hanging on with Tadcaster starting to play more of their one-touch football – something that had been missing thus far.

Nevertheless, although pressuring the final third, it did not result in Bacon being unduly bothered until the final minute of the game when Day produced a wonderful solo effort to lash the ball into the near corner.

At the foot of the table, Pickering Town let slip a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at Clitheroe.

Danny Earl gave the Pikes a seventh-minute lead and a Craig Stanley own goal early in the second half looked to have put Pickering on course for their first away win of term.

But the hosts' Connor Gaul struck twice in two minutes to ensure Town would have to settled for their first away point.

Selby Town put in another five-star performance in the Northern Counties East League as they trounced Brigg Town 5-1, writes Phil Dearnley.

Carl Stewart notched a second consecutive hat-trick - following up on his treble during last week's 7-2 demolition of Harrogate Railway Athletic - with Liam Flanagan and Josh Walker also finding the net.

The Robins have now scored 17 in their last three games and rise to fourth in division one.

Town’s only starting change was Alex Burton coming into the side to play on the left side of the front three. The bench saw a place for the returning Nick Kennedy.

After a period of Brigg pressure, Selby relieved the pressure through a free kick from around the halfway line, and from the set piece, they took the lead. The ball was played down the left side of the Brigg defence for Stewart to latch onto. Without breaking his run, he smashed a shot across the goalkeeper, into the corner of the net.

The Zebras' attempt at an immediate response was soon undone by another Selby goal. Flanagan robbed a Brigg midfielder who had dallied too long on the ball. In the centre of the field, he advanced towards the goal, drawing a defender, then coolly slotting the ball into the corner of the net, giving the keeper no chance.

It was not surprising that Brigg seemed somewhat deflated by these quick goals. Selby were in control, and it was not long before they added to their tally. Kain Rogerson was the provider, sliding a measured pass down the left side of Brigg’s defence. That man Stewart was onto it, and again crashed a shot across the goalkeeper and into the net despite the goalkeeper getting a hand on it.

Stewart was proving a real handful for the home team defence, and it was no surprise when he was able to complete his hat-trick. This time the goal was gift-wrapped by the Brigg defence. A clearance was miskicked and reached Carl Stewart in front of goal. With the defence appealing for offside, and only the goalkeeper to beat, there was only ever going to be one result form the man in form.

Substitute Walker scored with virtually his first touch in the 67th minute.

Once again, Stewart was involved, as for the umpteenth time he broke free from his markers. He found Walker in space with the relatively easy task of advancing on goal and slotting the ball home.

With Town looking largely in control at the back, they lost their clean sheet in the 87th minute. They lost possession at the edge of the six-yard box and, in the ensuing panic, a Brigg forward was felled for a penalty.

Up stepped substitute, Reece Moody to drill past Teddy Maris - a slightly disappointing end for the otherwise dominant Robins.