November 15th 2008

Brigg Town 1 Belper Town 2

My third trip to the Hawthorns to see the Nailers play the Zebras of Brigg Town. On neither of the two trips have Belper come away with the three points. This time we travel in hope as the hosts lie bottom of the table with just three points from their previous 12 games, but no game at Brigg is easy and this one would prove the point.

Although Brigg is one of the longest trips this season it is also one of the easiest with a jaunt of 75 miles made up mostly of A roads and motorways (A38, M1, M18, M180). Always a warm welcome from friendly people at Brigg, although it has to be said the temperature is usually the opposite. Today was no different as the early sunshine gave way to a cold afternoon which thankfully stayed dry.

I shared the first half with Belpers very own James Galway look-a-like Ian Robinson. Always a balanced view from Robbo, always a pleasure to stand beside him at a football match. I think he may be a bit of a Tory but I’m not going to hold that against him. Belper started confidently but Brigg looked dangerous on the break, especially the nippy number 11 who looks a little like a reject from McFly.
The big talking point from the first 45 was the penalty awarded against the Brigg keeper for a challenge on Willo. It was a bizarre decision as Willo had long since lobbed the ball over the bar before the keepers’ momentum resulted in a collision with Ant. A yellow card later and Stevo smashed In his 14th goal of the season form the spot. It’s rare for fans of both sides to agree that a penalty decision was wrong but that was the case in the boardroom at halftime, while the referees assessor stood around looking embarrassed on the referees behalf.

The second half was a scrappy affair. The lull in the action allowed the photographer in me to capture a 'sunset over Brigg' shot through the net behind the goal at the Boardroom end. Just afterwards Belper took a two goal lead when Danny Hudson stooped to head in a left wing cross. Straight form the kick off Brigg got a goal back and it was backs-to-the-wall with the odd break where better use of the ball should have seen the Nailers home safely. As it was we held on for a good away win and three points. No doubt Brigg will feel hard done to but as they said themselves, when you’re down at the bottom that’s the sort of luck you get.

Just time to capture the illuminated Brigg Town sign in the car park before a straight forward trip back saw us safely at home for 6:20 pm and another travel with my camera is over.

Next Up – Gresley Rovers UniBond Division 1 South