Brighouse Town 1 v Grimsby Borough 2

Club News | Mon 13th Oct 08
Posted by Ray McLaughlin
Despite dominating possession for large parts of this game and playing against tem men for the last 40 minutes, Town managed to loose a game they should have at least got a point out of.
Town got off to a terrible start when after only 3mins they lost midfielder Jordan Maltas to a nasty head-injuries that knocked him unconscious and required an Ambulance to remove him from the ground and take him to hospital, where thankfully he was diagnosed to have nothing more serious than concussion.
Play resumed 20mins later with Sam Talbot replacing Maltas, but neither side impressed in a very low key passage of play . Town finally began to come alive midway through the half forcing a couple of corners and Wayne Crossley's dangerous cross was cleared just before Danny Ryan could make contact.
Grimsby hadn't threatened until Paul Brown made a smart reaction save on 20mins and this should have been a warning to Town as minutes later a lofted cross was met by Ben Allen who out jumped the Town defence to plant a firm header into the corner of the net to give Grimsby the lead. Town responded with Danny Ryan whipping in a trademark cross that was well cleared, then Danny Bentley put in a great cross that had the keeper flapping, but Sam Talbot couldn't take advantage. Town should have equalised a couple of minutes before half-time in a goalmouth scramble when any one of Damien Gommersal, Danny Bentley and Scott Swann either could have or should have scored.
Town came out for the 2nd half and pushed Grimsby back from the start and got their reward almost immediately. Danny Bentley's goal-bound shot being handled on the line by a defender resulting in a penalty and a red card for the defender - Wayne Crossley coolly sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot-kick to put Town level. Full-backs Chris Wdowczik and Ryan Brook had been joining in with attacks whenever possible, but with Town having the spare man now, both players impressed with their energetic runs forward and were getting supplied with plenty of ball from debutant Mark Brady who added a new dimension to Town's play with his range of passing.
For all Town's possession, the Grimsby keeper wasn't being tested enough, although Gommersal's header had him stretching to tip over the bar on 57mins. Swan was replaced by Sam Frankland on 65mins and a minute later Town nearly took the lead with their best attack of the game. Wdowczik burst forward and played a great wall pass with Danny Bentley on the edge of the box, Wdowczik's low shot into the corner looked to have beaten the keeper but he got down brilliantly to turn the shot round the post. This was Town best spell of the game, Brook's fantastic run and cross was met by Danny Ryan on the volley and although his shot beat the keeper it hit a defender on the back and looped over the bar - summing up the luck Town are currently having in front of goal.
Town sent on Jermaine Manners for Crossley with 15 mins left, but Town were struggling to create clear cut chances, a couple of hopeful shots from Bentley and Ryan the nearest they came to threatening the Grimsby goal and although the visitors had hardly been in the Town half, they came nearest to taking the lead on 35mins, but Ryan Brook did brilliantly to get back and clear of the line. However, Grimsby didn't let Town off the hook two minutes later when a mix up in the Town defence allowed Darren Hanslip to score into an empty net for what proved to be the winning goal.
Four defeats in a row, conceding sloppy goals and missing good chances doesn't sound good, but I don't think anyone in the ground could have said Town didn't deserve at least a point out of this game, although nobody would begrudge Grimsby the win for the way they battled with only 10 men. Town's squad looks a lot stronger now than at the start of the season and there is a general feeling that when the players click they will soon start to climb the table - with every players 100% commitment, I,m sure this will be sooner rather than later.