Train (Sheffield-Brighouse) £19-20
Tea £1
Entry £7
Programme £1
Tea at Huddersfield £1
Total £29-20
Not too long ago Brighouse and Trafford were in feeder leagues - the NCEL and NWCFL respectively. Today they faced off in an Evostik Division 1 South match, with both in strong positions in the league.
Ahead of another trek to Merseyside I'd opted for a slightly shorter Saturday trip to Brighouse, which is about 5 miles from Huddersfield. There is a fairly frequent service from Leeds and the ground was only a half hour walk from the station, so this was a contrast to the epic journey of Barnoldswick.
I'd actually set off today with no map, no address and no phone data, so it was a wonder I managed to locate Brighouse's St Giles Road ground. I located a footpath running behind the housing estates nearby, with plenty of brown, red and orange leaves underfoot.
The ground was a gem. On the long side to my left was a long covered seating area, with 2 rows of seats, and a single terrace just behind this. I like it when seating and terracing are combined. On either side of this structure were some newish rows of terracing. On the opposite side of the pitch was a cameraman perched on top of some scaffolding, just behind the two dug outs.
So to the game. It wasn't a classic to be honest, but was another hard fought Evostik game. Brighouse, in orange and black, carried most threat early on - Ernest Boafo had two early headers caught by the Russell Saunders in the away goal. What most attracted my attention was Brighouse's bearded left back, who looked like he would fit well into z Viking film. Trafford looked surprisingly ineffective up front, with their first real shot materialising when 11s effort was blocked by a home defender. At the other end Ryan Hall was nearly clean through and couldn't quite connect with the ball to lob the keeper. The funniest moment of the half was when Ryan Ledson deliberately hand balled in an effort to stop Brighouse running clear - it was so obvious and cynical that it was laughable. Trafford did carve a couple of chances towards the end, brushing the post with a looping header, and then forcing the away keeper to parry at the near post.
The second period was thin on chances but still dripping with effort and desire. Daniel Caldecott's left footed daisy cutter went just wide of the upright, and the Manchester side looked a bit stronger. However, from a long ball on 55 minutes, Brighouse took the lead. Boafo capitalised when a loose ball wasn't cleared, and the keeper hesitated. It was maybe half a second hesitation and that's a long time in this game unfortunately. Trafford were utterly determined to respond but struggled to create many clear cut chances. Their right back Simon Woodford was most impressive on his forward runs. Brighouse's Daniel Facey was busiest at the other end, skimming the crossbar with a deflected shot and trying a bizarre overhead kick from the centre circle. A rare Trafford chance came when Jack Dorney could only shoot down the keepers throat with a snap shot inside the area. Then, just as it seemed Brig would grab the win, Trafford were awarded a penalty - looked like a handball. Dorney stepped up and made it 1-1 with the ball bouncing off Hagreen's toes agonisingly into the top corner. For Trafford perhaps this was just reward for their efforts, but I felt a bit for Brighouse who had come so close to a handy win.
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