LIKE A bolt out of the blue, Town officials woke up on Tuesday morning to news that they could after all go ahead on Saturday with their planned NPL North West Division home fixture with second in the table Workington (3.00).

Only the night before it had been looking as though the suspension of fixtures in place since November 5 would remain and beyond the festive derby games with Tadcaster Albion on Boxing Day (3.00) and away to Ossett United on Saturday, January 2 (3.00).

However, a situation had been developing on the Monday where right across the country clubs were asking for friendlies against their fellow league clubs now they could let spectators in, and it appears this brought a change of heart in the evening.

Town will not have any away fans at present for the Workington or Tadcaster games if they stay in Tier 3, while those two clubs are in Tier 2. However they will be allowed 215 spectators in on Saturday and again on Boxing Day with their season ticket holders having priority. They sold a record amount in the close season of just over 100 and so for the other spectators it will be a case of first come, first served to see the game.

Workington are currently second in the table behind Ramsbottom United but are unbeaten with five wins and three draws. In the past week they have lost 3-1 to Nantwich in the FA Trophy and then beat Penrith Town 2-1 on Saturday in a warm up game.

Leading their line will be former Brighouse striker Reuben Jerome who left them for Southport, then moved to Warrington Town before Ramsbottom and then this season to the former Football League club at Borough Park. He already has a hat-trick to his name.

Town were in action last night at the Marley Stadium, Keighley, taking on Steeton from the North West Counties League Premier Division. At the end of 90 minutes the game was goalless but manager Powell had seen a good work out for his players and a fine performance by the home keeper denied Town several goalscoring opportunities.

Last Saturday they played an away game at Eccleshill United of the NCEL Premier Division and lost 3-1. They were three goals down by the 48th minute thanks to a brace from Luke Aldrich and an opening goal on 38 minutes from Sumail Cissa. Darius Smith replied with a consolation goal for Town.

Town have also agreed to play their away game at Mossley that was scheduled for last Saturday on Tuesday night (7.45) and once more spectators will be allowed in.

BRIGHOUSE TOWN Women continued their excellent start to the season with an emphatic 3-0 win in the Women’s FA Cup 1st Round against league leaders Chester-Le-Street at the Washington Hub on Sunday.

Town went in to the game full of confidence after playing out a 0-0 draw with Burnley from the league above the previous week and having kept an incredible seven clean sheets from their eight games this season. That was clear to see from the start of the game with Town dominating the early possession.

A blistering start to the game saw the West Yorkshire side take the lead inside two minutes, Abi Lee scoring her first for the club, finishing of a superb team goal.

The lead was doubled just four minutes later, this time Lee getting on the end of an Ellie White pass to fire in to the top corner from 30 yards. Two-nill up and Town were in complete control.

The third and final goal of the afternoon came on the 20th minute mark when a long free kick from Emma Dobson found its way in to the box, Becky Gompertz was quickest to react as she looped the ball over the advancing keeper to kill the game as a contest.

Town did have two goals ruled out for offside, both very tight decisions, with the first from Lee who was probably just offside and the second from 16-year-old local lass Katja May, who was probably just inside but didn’t get the decision as she calmly slotted in for what would have been her first goal for the club.

A player of the match performance from Ellie Dobson in the middle of the park was well deserved as Town saw out the second half comfortably to book their place in the 2nd Round proper tie to be drawn.

Town will now entertain Newcastle United Women in the next round on Sunday, January 3 at 1pm with spectators allowed to a restrictive number.

Dave Parker

BRIGHOUSE TOWN returned to the field of play last Saturday with a behind closed doors warm up game against Thackley for a possible return in the next three weeks to spectator-attended League football.

While the League have been in touch this week to say all games are postponed on and up to Saturday, December 19, they have also informed that clubs within the same government imposed tiers on that Saturday date can mutually arrange to play with spectators. Town officials have in the past 24 hours contacted Workington in Tier 2 asking them if they are prepared to come down if Calderdale is lowered back in to Tier 2 after the December 16 reassessment date.

If Calderdale is lowered, then the Boxing Day home game with Tadcaster Albion, already in Tier 2, would be able to go ahead.

“All ifs and buts, but we need to keep our fingers crossed,” said director of football Charlie Tolley, adding:” as these are two real money spinning games for us and also encounters we would like to think we could attain points from.”

Town looked good value for their 2-1 win over Thackley, and had striker Eli Hey had more luck then he would have had at least four goals to his name.

Mytholmroyd farmer Hey has yet to score since his close season move from Colne but he is having some terrible luck with countless blocks, goalkeepers stretching every sinue and the woodwork preventing the ball going in. Committeemen present at the game reckon that once the prolific scorer over the past few seasons breaks his `duck’ then they will come thick and fast.

Town did open the scoring through the experienced Danny Raachi before Town keeper Matt Smith brought down a Thackley striker and Ben Grech-Brooksbank stepped up to level the scores before half-time.

Town were very lively in the opening exchanges in the second half and striker Laurence Sorhaindo was put through on goal, beat a man and then sent a sweet strike into the net and the then 2-1 scoreline stayed despite Hey being a busy bee in the Bradford side’s box.

Town go to Eccleshill United on Saturday lunchtime for a another behind closed game and then on the Tuesday night they go to the Marley Stadium, Keighley for game with Steeton.

Town’s Academy side are playing competitive football under the education banner and last Thursday on resumption of their fixtures played at Skelmersdale United, losing out to a goal in the 70th minute. Today (Thursday 1.00) they are at Ossett United.

MORE GOOD news on the playing front for Brighouse Town with the announcement that left fullback Michael Starkey is back in training after a 14 month absence and looking to some action in the new year.

Starkey, 25, formerly of AFC Emley and Huddersfield Town, suffered a very bad tear of the knee cartilage in the Emirates FA Cup tie with Marske at the start of last season and with having to take his turn in the NHS queue he wasn’t operated on in Dewsbury Hospital until early autumn this year.

“I had keyhole surgery and its been successful and I am now four to six weeks off playing and fully back into training and building up the knee,” said the Newsome-based workhorse defender.

“It is great to be back with the lads again and I can’t wait for a piece of the action.”

Town’s other long term injury worry, Mohammed `TJ’ Ibrahim, was back in action last Saturday after a similar length of time out with a cruciate injury that also needed an operation and he got 20 minutes on the pitch last Saturday for Thackley in Town’s 2-1 win in the warm up game. Striker Ibrahim will have a couple of games on dual registration for the NCEL club but looked well in his time on the pitch, nippy and clinical with his passes.

Dave Parker

BRIGHOUSE TOWN voted last night (Wednesday) to continue with the current pause to the Pitching-In NPL North West Division season while spectators are not allowed in.

This follows a Zoom meeting of all clubs in Steps 3 and 4 on Tuesday evening at which the club was represented by their chairman James Howard. Following the meeting the League’s General Manager Angie Firth issued the following statement from the League:`Please vote before midnight on Wednesday night, December 2 that you agree or disagree to continue with the current pause in the season with a regular review in the light of changes to the current Tier criteria and/or Grants becoming available.’

Town are of the opinion like most clubs sat in Tier 3, especially from today that they cannot play on, especially when you also have to take into consideration those supporters who have purchased season tickets and the match day revenue streams have dried up.

Town were in talks last night with Bradford club Thackley as to whether they would play their arranged warm up friendly behind closed doors on Saturday at the Yorkshire Payments Stadium, which now goes ahead with a 2pm kick off. Their resuming fixture next Tuesday, December 8 at Trafford FC looks unlikely to go ahead now as there are more clubs in Tier 3 than Tier 2 which should guarantee the continuation of the pause. All the Merseyside clubs are in Tier 2 and can have a percentage of spectators in but spectators are not allowed to travel between tiers. Marine had asked Town to travel to their Marine Travel Arena in Crosby on Saturday for their outstanding league game but this was rejected by Town officials ahead of this past Tuesday evening’s meeting and they had the backing of the League. Although their Emirates FA Cup Third Round tie at home to Tottenham Hotspur is not while the first weekend in January, the club’s manager Neil Young is keen to keep the players in action. In the meantime their seven match winning run in the cup will now net them around £150,000 plus by the time the final whistle goes in the game with Spurs and additional £250,000. They are guaranteed a television game and secretary Richard Cross had advertising agencies on Tuesday morning looking to ensure they cashed in on top of the six figure TV fee.

Town officials are hoping that the promised review on the R number in the tiered regions by the Government on December 16 could see West Yorkshire and as a result themselves lowered into Tier 2 so that the money spinning and attractive home games with Workington on Saturday, December 19 and Tadcaster Albion on Boxing Day could go ahead. Both teams would be allowed to travel and their supporters, but it’s a waiting game for all concerned.

Manager Vill Powell says, even if there were grants offered rather than loans to get us playing again behind closed doors I would not want this scenario with the keen supporters we have and the 100 season ticket holders barred. “It has to be back down to Tier 2 and even with its restrictions we had it all covered for the last game with Buxton in the FA Trophy thanks to our Covid officers Andy Eccles and Ray McLaughlin.

“All the coaching staff and the players can do is keep the `engine’ ticking over and be ready for when we do get the call.”

Powell was hoping to get his players in to the Leeds-based West Riding County FA for a few training sessions over the next seven days on top of their own individual work they have carried on with over the month of November.

The club’s media manager Damian Wales, along with his chairman, has launched the club shop on line via the club’s website and Twitter account in time for Christmas and there has been a real surge of interest and purchases.

“Looking at the season so far it feels very surreal in regards to the stop start situation we have had during covid. And, in my career, as a player at Burnley, Sheffield Utd and Cambridge Utd I’ve never seen a season like this.

“We started really strongly through preseason, with Vill (Powell)

putting together a strong, equipped team with good individuals, which we feel have a good team ethos and work ethic, which resulted in some very good and exciting performances.

“Unbelievably we failed to pick up results in the first few league and cup games, although our team performances were good things just didn’t seem to drop right.

We struggled to gain points starting the season really slow.

So, when we did get our first three points and we seemed to be gaining momentum when Covid and Lockdown 2 unfortunately put a stop to it.

“So, hopefully we can keep the momentum going onwards and upwards from now on when we do get the green light to resume and build on our last result. Giving our fans something to cheer about as they have turned out in force to follow us home and away through everything we’ve all had to endure.”

BRIGHOUSE TOWN’S hopes of continuing their season a week today with their first training session together for a month and resumption of the Pitching-In North West Division League on Tuesday, November 8 depends on the tier system Calderdale is placed in today and many of their opponents across the M62 corridor.

With the tier systems set to have more stringent measures in them as they become tier 2 plus and tier 3 plus, the season is on a knife edge. The League and Steps 3-7-Town are step 4- have planned for a re-opening of their fixtures from on Saturday week, with the majority plumping for week commencing December 7. The respective leagues in those steps, who were playing in front of restricted crowds before the second lockdown caused non-elite sport to close its doors once more, have all made plans to resume, including Town who will entertain Bradford NCEL premier Division club Thackley on Saturday, December 5 at 3pm in a warm up game.

Town manager Vill Powell was set to also play warm up games at Sheffield FC and Handsworth over Tuesday and Wednesday nights of the 8th and 9th of December until the NPL rulers stepped in late last week and informed everyone it was a resumption of the league programme. Town will now travel to Manchester and in the shadow of the Theatre of Dreams take on Trafford FC on Tuesday week, December 8 (7.45).

Town should have been at Trafford on December 5 but the League have agreed with all their member clubs they can restart the week after so a training session or two together can take place.

The League have also informed clubs that their postponed November programme will be played in May and that will include a trip to Liverpool to take on Marine who entertain Brian Stock’s Havant & Waterlooville on Sunday in front of the BT Sport cameras in the second round of the Emirates FA Cup.

Town’s director of football Charlie Tolley said yesterday ahead of the announcement on tiers and more news then coming from the FA and the NPL that it is essential his team continue to play in front of crowds.

“We are on a financial road to disaster like a lot more at our level if we cannot have spectators in, ” said Tolley, who also added that he was also desperate to see the bar and catering kitchen kept open in some form.

“We have to make money on the weeks we are given a home game from all revenue streams and the shutdown in November has been particularly harsh for us as we had three very good sponsored home games scheduled. Right now we are not due a league game until December 19 when Workington are the visitors.”