Bamber Bridge’s disappointing run of form continued on Tuesday night with a 2-0 reverse at Skuna Stadium, home of Atherton Collieries FC. In the ten matches since beating Lancaster City on Boxing Day, Brig have gone on a run that has included seven defeats, two goalless draws and a solitary victory. Scoring just 6 goals, and three of those came in the one victory at Radcliffe.

As I wrote on the matchday Twitter feed, following the game, as disappointing as this run has been, we simply have to temper that by remembering what is currently going on in Ukraine and losing Football matches really shouldn’t register in anyway, shape or form as a disaster. We can watch in peace, and we’ll be back again on Saturday.

So, on to Last nights game. Brig made five changes following the home defeat against Buxton, Matt Hudson and Nathan Pond, back after completing suspensions. In also came Jake Thompson and Chris Churchman, with Accrington Stanley loanee Kevin Spinelli making his first start.

Bamber Bridge had the first opportunity of the match with Jake Thompson firing a shot wide from the edge of the area in the 2nd minute. Form there however, with Brig playing down the slope in the opening half, it all went downhill!

Matt Hudson’s unlucky start to his loan spell continued as Brig conceded what can only be described as an “unfortunate” goal in the 7th minute. A hopeful forward punt in to the box, looked to be heading straight in to the hands of the Brig keeper. From our vantage point it looked as though Matt Hudson stepped backwards and collided with the post, the ball spilling over the the goaline in the process. The Brig players were visibly stunned by the goal and in truth, never recovered.

On a very sticky and uneven pitch, passing football never really looked an option, so both sides looked to play the long ball game which resulted in a really poor spectacle in all honesty.

Try as the might Brig couldn’t get near the Colls goal, with the giant centre back pairing heading ever ball clear. The nearest Brig came was an Isaac Sinclair effort from a right wing cross, the ball being deflected for a corner. Craig Carney then saw a 25 yard looping shot dip over the bar.

Up to half time the game became a real scrappy affair with neither side enjoying any prolonged possession and passes going astray left, right and centre. With the game looking like going into the half time break at 1-0, Atherton doubled their advantage. An initial shot was blocked, leading to a corner. From that far post corner the ball was headed backwards were The Colls striker met the ball with a low shot that seemed to find its way through a forest of legs before rolling into the corner of the net.

The half time whistle followed and the Brig players hurried off the pitch, to return 10 minutes later, a good 5 minutes before the home side. Aaron Skinner had entered the fray in place of Macualey Wilson. The second half however showed no improvement from the first half, with neither side able to create any meaningful chances or even shots at goal.

As mentioned earlier, any attempt to play football on the ground was rendered virtually impossible by the state of the pitch. Nonetheless, the quality of passing from Brig in particular was simply not good enough and time and time again the intended pass found its way into touch.

The best chance of the second half, indeed the match for Brig came from a left wing corner, that flashed all the way across the goal line just requiring a touch, but no one got the touch and the ball drifted out at the far post for a goal kick.

The home side were clearly satisfied with their two goal lead and never looked like adding to their tally. Paul Dawson and Nathan Pond picked up yellow cards as the Brig frustration began to deepen. Matt Hudson then made a good save to deny Colls a third as the game drifted towards it’s inevitable conclusion.

The final whistle came and the home side celebrated their success. For Brig, well the rotten run continues. There can be no accusation of lack of effort from any of the Bamber Bridge squad. They are putting in the effort, there is no doubt about that but football as we all know can be like this at times. What it will take to turn this run around I’m not sure. But it will turn round and regardless of this recent run. Brig are still sat comfortably in 9th position in the League with an quirky record of having scored 49, conceded 49 and we have 49 points. As I mentioned at the start. “It’s only football” and we have the luxury of being able to attend freely and under no threat.

It’s a home match on Saturday as Grantham Town visit The Sir Tom Finney Stadium. Win, lose, or draw, We’ll be there.

Full Time; Atherton Collieries – 2 Bamber Bridge – 0

Bamber Bridge: Hudson, Churchman, Thomson, Spooner, Pond, Wilson (Capt), Thompson, Carney, Spinelli, Dawson (P), Sinclair

Subs: Yeates, Dawson, Skinner, Sinclair-Smith

Att: 201