Not the best of weeks for Brighouse Town with the loss of strong and talented utility forward Mohammad Qasim to Guiseley, Bradford City loanee Bobby Pointon on his recall sent to National League North club Farsley Celtic, defender Matty Nebard out for six weeks with a broken scaphoid and the club out of the FA Trophy at the first hurdle.
After a great previous week with three wins and twelve goals, Lady Luck has deserted the club and it looks as though another idle Saturday this weekend has come at the right time as manager Vill Powell needs assess the injury situation and strengthen his squad ahead of very busy looking October.
There was no way in the current climate that Town could keep Qasim with cash-rich Guiseley offering him an enhanced contract and he made his debut on Tuesday night at home to Marske United in the ISUZU FA Trophy first qualifying round.
Powell moved quickly to cover the loss of Painton by signing on loan until January 3 his Bradford City U-19 teammate and centre forward Dylan Youmbi who was a second half substitute in the 2-0 home defeat on Monday night to Worksop Town in their FA Trophy tie.
Nebard revealed he played 85 minutes in the 4-1 home win over Carlton Town with his injury which was a clean break and will not need an operation to pin it.
Mohammed Ibrahim came back from injury himself to replace him against Workskop who were a big, strong side containing three former EFL players and three from the National League and others from National League North.
The Nottinghamshire side in the tie moved to Monday from Saturday after the FA asked clubs to stand down from weekend fixtures following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, took the lead after six minutes when Liam Hughes beat Michael Roxburgh with a powerful header inside his near post. Worksop looked good value for this lead in the first ten minutes before the young home side found their feet with Sam Reed and Javelle Clarke giving them plenty to think about as Corey Gregory, Tom Haigh, Elliot Harrison and Jack Normanton also strove to get their side moving forward.
Despite Worksop hitting the crossbar and shaving an upright, the scoreline remained 1-0 at the break.
Following a James Hanson penalty in the 58th minute to make it 2-0, on came Youmbi and he had some nice touches to his game and he swung in one great cross and an outswinging corner that gave the visitors grief.
However, Town could not get a break to force a goal that might have led to a frantic last few minutes and they bowed of the competition.
With the tie moving to Monday night the NPL East Division league game at Sheffield FC scheduled for Tuesday had to be postponed and last night (Wednesday) Sheffield were playing their tie at the City of Liverpool.
Town have re-arranged one oustanding fixture from August 22 when FA Cup ties took preference and they should have entertained Shildon from Durham, and that will now take place on Saturday, September 24 at the Yorkshire Payments Stadium. Tuesday, October 4 is earmarked for the outstanding Pontefract Collieries home game but there is no confirmation from the NPL at the time of going to print.
Experienced goalkeeper Brett Souter will commence running work next Monday after his summer operation on a troublesome knee and it is hoped he is back in contention by the end of the month despite Huddersfield Town loanee Roxburgh good form.
Former professional striker Zeph Thomas is having calf problems and he is not fit for selection and, of course, fellow striker Laurence Sorhaindo is out with a knee injury it is hoped does not need surgery.
Already Powell has moved for cover and awaits permission to talk with the players concerned.
The club’s U-18 side lost 8-2 away to a strong Pontefract Collieries team in the FA Youth Cup first round qualifying on Wednesday night.
