Bamber Bridge made it 3 league wins on the bounce and 16 points from the last 18 available with a fine 2-1 victory at the “David Longstaff Martin and Co Arena” home of Gainsborough Triniy in the Flat lands of Lincolnshire on Saturday afternoon.

A flowing first half, with two superbly worked goals, followed by a gritty, determined 2nd half were the Lancashire visitors survived an onslaught from The Holy Blues, to claim 3 vital points that raise Brig in to 4th Place in The Northern Premier League and joint second with South Shields.

On a glorious late October afternoon on a superb pitch, it was Brig who started the brighter of the two sides, and an early left wing cross from Nathan Pond almost caught the keeper out as he scrambled towards his back post, the ball dropping and landing on the roof of the net. Bamber Bridge keeper Felix Goddard was soon called into action at the other end, diving forward to make a comfortable save from an edge of the box Trinity shot.

The early stages of the match where fairly even with Brig playing some lovely patient passing football, the home side always posing a threat with their more direct approach. It was Bamber Bridge who opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a super goal, Dave Perkins superbly won possession 25 yards from goal and fed the ball to Paul Dawson, he laid the ball square to Conor Stanley who calmly stroked the ball in to the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area.

Paul Dawson picked up a harsh looking yellow card on 14 minutes for deliberate handball, the ball having been smashed towards him from close range. Max Fisher followed him in to the referee’s note book minutes later. Brig were playing really well at this stage of the game and zipping the ball around the lush turf. The home side were always a threat however, and from a free kick on the right the ball was laid back before a goal bound shot was superbly blocked, the rebound was then walloped high over the bar. Felix then made another fine stop as he beat the Trinity forward to a through ball, diving at the feet of the striker to claim the ball.

As the first half drew to a close, the home side were beginning to build a head of steam and a break down the left wing saw a low cross whipped across the 6 yard line, fortunately for Brig there was no Trinity player on hand to meet the cross and the ball was cleared. Brig Captain Macaulay Wilson, who was having a superb match in the heart of the Brig defence then looked to take a knock and needed treatment for several minutes before he was able to continue. Felix then made another diving interception before Brig doubled their advantage right on half time.

Again, another superbly worked Bamber Bridge goal, a fine passing move down the right saw Finn Sinclair-Smith cut in from the touchline and play the ball square to Nathan Pond, on the edge of the box with his back goal, Pondy swivelled and planted the ball into the far bottom corner of the net, the keeper diving to his right at full stretch but unable to reach the superbly placed drive. Moments after the restart the referee blew the half time whistle to end a very satisfactory opening 45 minutes for the Briggers.

The second half was an entirely different game as the home side came out with all guns blazing and threw the proverbial kitchen sink at their Lancashire Visitors. A Paul Dawson shot from the right side of the box that sailed over the bar was pretty much all Brig could muster in an attacking sense as they were forced to defend resolutely for pretty much the entire second half.

Brig had made a half time change with Oli Patrick coming on for Max Fisher, which also meant a switch in positions with Oli slotting in at right back and Aaron Skinner swapping sides to fill the left back role. Six minutes in the 2nd half the early onslaught paid dividends for the Lincolnshire side, as the pulled a goal back following a neat interchange of passes in the Brig penalty area.

The goal lifted Trinity and they poured forward looking to get back on level terms, Brig were having none of it however and defended with great determination and resolve. A change on the hour saw Danny Forbes enter the fray with Paul Dawson making way.

A Brig free kick on the left led to loud claims of handball from the Brig players as the ball was hooked clear but the referee was having none of it and the game carried on. Almost immediately a free kick in a similar position at the other end saw a fine block from a fierce low drive. Felix Goddard then made the save of the match diving full length to his left to push another long range low strike out to safety. Brig were keeping their opponents at arms length and despite the possessional advantage of the home side, Bamber Bridge were defending their goal superbly.

A the other end of the pitch and behind the goal the support from the Briggers was also immense, particularly the Younger element with Adam and Lucas hammering away on the drum, with James and Beth joining in with the vocal support. Terrific stuff and it must surely have given the players on the pitch a big lift.

As the half wore on Brig looked to have weathered the storm, a third change saw Harry Scarborough who had worked his socks off, make way for Rhys Turner. The last 5 minutes seemed to last forever as Brig continued to deny their hosts any space to mount further attacks and the game management, from Felix in particular was a joy to watch for the Brig fans being the goal .“The Cat” picking up a yellow card from the referee who was seemingly less impressed than the Briggers.
Five minutes of added time were signalled and gave the hosts another lift as they once again tried to bombard the Brig back line. Danny Forbes making a great headed clearance in the last minute of stoppage time before the referee finally blew for full time. The Brig fans and players celebrated a brilliant, hard earned 3 points. Two completely differing halves of football showing Brig can both play and defend in equal measure. Great credit also to Millie and his coaching staff for their management of the second half and making timely changes to secure the points.

Brig now have a free week before we make the relatively short trip to face what will be another tough fixture at Hyde United next Saturday.

Full Time: Gainsborough Trinity – 1 Bamber Bridge – 2

Bamber Bridge: Goddard, Fisher, Skinner, Wilson (c), Pond, Thomson, Scarborough, Perkins, Sinclair-Smith, Dawson, Stanley

Substitutes: Forbes, Patrick, Riding, Alabi, Turner
Att: 572