THACKLEY committeeman Mick Lodge declared "all's well that ends well" after the damage caused at Dennyfield turned out to be accidental and the repairs will not cost the club a penny.

The Dennyboys have been through a harrowing period and the depth of their financial plight had threatened the club's existence.

Having battled to keep themselves afloat, their woes were added to by a quiet Christmas and New Year period, traditionally a busy and prosperous time for football clubs.

Thackley were left as the odd team out in the 21-strong Toolstation Northern Counties East League Premier Division on both Saturdays nearest the holidays and today, against Barton Town Old Boys, is their first home game since November 22.

Lodge said: "We thought the worst when we saw the damage (last Sunday) because there have been previous incidents.

"A couple of years back the dressing rooms and showers were broken into and all the copper piping was stolen. They also unbolted and took the air conditioning unit that was on the side of the clubhouse.

"Then on Mischief Night, someone set fire to the 3G astroturf we had in rolls waiting to be laid on the training pitch.

"They didn't just set fire to that, they also burnt all the picnic tables we had outside the club and the fire burned out the wiring on the floodlights for the training pitch and we haven't had that mended yet."

Lodge added: "A couple of weeks ago we had a nice gesture from Towngate Fisheries, the chip shop up at Idle. Mark (Drummond), who owns it, gave us a £1,000 donation. It was a very generous offer to sponsor the Legends Day that we had held earlier.

"When the latest damage was caused on Sunday, we thought it would cost that amount to repair. We spoke to Mark because he hadn't given us the money for that purpose but he was very good about it and said if that's what we needed it for, we should use it.

"We didn't discover until Wednesday that a car had caused the damage accidentally and on the same day we had confirmation that the driver, who had tried to contact someone at the club at the time of the incident, had already reported it to his insurers, who then instructed us to send them some builders' quotes. It was all down to miscommunication and it's all sorted now.

"We were overwhelmed by the support and good will gestures and messages. It was really heart-warming and it lifted us all, knowing that so many people cared about the football club.

"It could not have been a better outcome, so all's well that ends well."