TOWN'S THREE match unbeaten run came to a grinding halt last Saturday at home to Radcliffe Borough who got the all important goal after seven minutes.

Both sides were denied by a post and Town did have the ball in the net three minutes after the Radcliffe goal but the referee disallowed it for a foul on the keeper,; Radcliffe also had a second half goal disallowed plus George Gomersall saw a great first half effort headed off the line.

It was never a classic on a well prepared pitch by Darren Laycock and Wally Hemingway but it was end-to-end entertainment as you would expect from two sides desperate to climb away from the basement area of Evo-Stik League Division One North.

The early and match-winning goal came from yet another set piece-the downfall of Town so many times this season. Connor Griffin had made a meal of trying to get the ball off Radcliffe's Liam Woods and gave away the free kick wide out on keeper Chris Butt's right. The free kick was launched into the penalty box and Town faiuled to clear, James Hooper deflecting it on to the knee of his teammate Callum Grogan who, from three yards out beat Butt.

Town thought they had equalised as Adam Field and Waide Fairhurst went to head home from a corner out on the right but Mr Holbrook blew up for a free kick to the visitors.

Town were upping their game and Fairhurst had a free kick just saved by the keeper, Iwan Heeley was some three yards wide with a shot when off balance and Aidan Kirby just glanced the outside of a post with the help of a deflection.

Radcliffe had three successive corners in a five minute spell which Town cleared with both precision and in the case of the third by a Field fly-kick.

On 22 minutes, Town's Gomersall fired on goal with real tenacity and a goal looked on until Jake Doran headed off the line.

Upto the break it could be said Town were on top but not getting an end product in the final third.

At the start of the second half manager Vill Powell substituted Gabriel Johnson for Gomersall and 14 minutes later he brought on Aaron Martin for Aidan Kirby. A minute later and Radcliffe's Kingsley Williams hit the post.

Town responded well with both Johnson and Martin's fresh legs winning them some good positions. In the 67th minute Johnson found himself going for a 50-50 ball one-on-one with keeper Coonor Keane, who just won out. Then Powell brought on the diminutive Mohammed Ibrahim for Fairhurst and two minutes later as he was injured putting a ball through for Martin we had another one-on-one with the keeper and just by a hairsbreadth Keane won out once more.

Town did fail in one area, keeper Butt and his colleagues at the back, to be fair, did not feed any ball to Rhys Jenkinson in the second half as at Trafford the week before and suffered as a result as the play was always coming down the more tacky left hand side of the pitch

In the 80th minute Woods had a goal disallowed by the assistant referee and referee for a foul on Butt, much to the delight of the Town fans, who were cheering their favourites on for an equaliser.

As much as they tried Town could not pull the rabbit out of the hat and complete a league double.

Brighouse Town: Butt, Jenkinson, Riley, Griffin, Hall, Field, Gomersall (Johnson), Heeley, Fairhurst (Ibrahim), Kirkby (Martin), Robinson. Unused subs: Annor, Armstrong.

Radcliffe Borough: Keane, Williams, Kearney, Jago, Doran, Grogan Russey, Williams, Myers (Daniels), Hooper (Elrersley), Woods. Unused subs: Fallon, Cham, Bove.

Referee: Mr David Holbrook.

Attendance 236