Brighouse Town rounded off the festive period with a 3-2 home win over Liversedge to complete a double over their near neighbours from just four miles down the road.

Town won 1-0 at Clayborn on August Bank Holiday Monday but this was a more assured performance once they had gone down to another early goal-Liam Hardy scoring with just two minutes on the clock. Town had also seen themselves a goal down at Winterton Rangers on Boxing Day and need to switch on a little earlier!

In fact in this New Year’s Day derby game before a 387 crowd, Town went on to play some lovely football, possibly the best of the season and on a tacky pitch, and to be realistic with much tidier finishing they could have hit Liversedge for six and possibly more!

Town grew into the game after the earlier setback and began to trouble recognised central defenders Kurt Harris and Kevin Tarangadzo and their full backs Kwame Boatang and Jack Hardacre.

Town’s back four of Curtis Peters, Brandon Webster, Matty Hubard and Jamie Allsop played with assurity after the early lapse.

Sam Drake was denied by former Town keeper Jordan Porter who fumbled his shot on to a post before grabbing it before it went over the line. The Town faithful were confident a goal was coming after a header was also saved and they got their reward in the 44th minute when striker Kieron Ceesay came into the box and beat several defenders before steering his shot past Porter.

Into the second half and once Town had settled, striker Jack Normanton, who covered some ground the whole game, Ceesay, Mohammed Qasim and man of the match Cameron Bedford just took the game to Liversedge.

Chances to take the lead came and went for Cameron Bedord, Jack Crook, Normanton and Qasim but the score in the 74th minute still remained 1-1.

A minute later, however, the home crowd went wild with delight as a Normanton free kick 30 yards out on the left was blasted home by Bedford. The same player struck again eleven minutes later to put Town 3-1 up and with fresh legs on from Alex Phillipson, Ash Butterworth and Jordan Helliwell, Town continued their assault on the Liversedge goal.

Liversedge did pull a goal back in the 90th minute from a Jack Stockdill header as the board went up for five minutes added-on time. However, Town more than held out and once more finished the game on the front foot.

The seven points from the three games across the festive period have taken Town to 12th place in the table ahead of their away game on Saturday to bottom club Grantham Town (3pm).

There will be a coach leaving the Dusty Miller at 11am.

In the meantime Stocksbridge Park Steels have made an approach for Town’s No2 keeper Harry Garman who is currently on a dual registration with Maltby Main.

Brighouse Town’s assistant manager Stacy Reed is standing down after five seasons in the post alongside manager Vill Powell.

Reed, 51, was in a serious car crash in the summer and both he and his wife Nicola were injured as a result. This was in Sheffield shortly after his eldest son Sam had signed a full time professional contract with Sheffield Wednesday and the Owls had paid Brighouse Town a signing-on fee.

While his wife, a nurse, recovered pretty quickly, he has been into hospital for on-going treatment and he still, he says, is walking with a limp.

He has also, along with members of the family, also been watching Sam, 19, playing for the U21s until he was injured two weeks ago when playing against Manchester United’s U-21 side.

“He suffered a hairline fracture of a foot in the first half of the game and then at half-time complained it was hurting somewhat, but played on until the 65th minute when he was substituted,” informed his dad.

He continued: “They sent him for a scan a couple of days later and it revealed the fracture and so they put him in an air-cast boot. He is now some two weeks of resuming light training before a hoped for mid-January comeback.

“It has definitely come at the wrong time for the lad as he was the stand out defender in the squad and they were talking of looking at an outing with the first team alongside Bailey Cadamarteri who was the outstanding forward and is already taking his chance and banging in the goals for in the first team.

“They have looked after Sam very well and we are all telling him his chance will come again when he is fully fit.”

Besides coaching at Town, Stacy Reed has coached junior sides at Stocksbridge Park Steels and his 17-year-old son Alex is now impressing in the south Yorkshire side’s reserve team, while his younger brother Leo, 14, is playing with Brunsmeer U15s in the Sheffield Junior League.

“I have started following the two youngsters now after having Sam with me since he was fifteen at Brighouse and its pretty time consuming.

“I have really enjoyed my time at Brighouse where we have had some super players through our hands and they also have a good committee and some great supporters. I would certainly recommend a player finding his way in open age football gives it a go at the club.”

Town supporters are also keeping a close eye on Bailey Cadamarteri’s progress as the family live on the hill above Brighouse at Scholes and his dad, Danny, ex- Everton, Bradford City, Huddersfield Town and Leicester City goalscorer, occasional pops in to see a game.