Steels 1-1 Brighouse Town

A late goal from Jordan Lemon grabbed Stocksbridge Park Steels a point against Brighouse Town.

Brighouse took the lead minutes after the second half began when Bobby Painton passed numerous players before finishing in the bottom corner. Jordan Lemon slammed home an equaliser in stoppage time to get a point for the Steels.

The first half barely provided anything to write about as both teams cancelled each other out. The ball was in the air more often that it resembled a volleyball match more than football. Brighouse did have more of the ball but they were unable to do anything with it. At the other end, the Steels weren’t too far from taking the lead when Charlie Oglesbly’s bullet header was sent goalwards, but former Stocksbridge keeper Michael Roxburgh was able to deal with it. With not much more to talk about in the first half, it was goalless at the break.

The second half began in the worst way possible for Stocksbridge. Bobby Pointon gathered the ball on the halfway line and despite being fouled, the referee giving advantage, he was able to get past several Steels defenders before finishing into the bottom corner.

After that goal, Brighouse were able to take control of the game and were looking to double their lead and secure the victory. A pair of defensive errors almost let Brighouse in but poor passing from the away side allowed Stocksbridge to get away with that mistake. Pointon also continued to be dangerous and he danced into the box again only to beat the post as well as the keeper with the shot. However despite having more of the possession, Town did struggle to break through and create clear cut chances.

After being rattled early in the second half, Stocksbridge were able to settle down and get back into the game. A lot of this came from Lewis Macaskill, the former Clay Cross man who had come on for Gareth Curtis. He caused constant trouble for the Brighouse defence and he tilted the game in Stocksbridge’s favour. Much of the ground thought Stocksbridge had equalised when Tomas Poole’s free kick smashed off the outside of the post. Later in the game, Luke Rawson curled a shot wide before Macaskill also hit an effort that was inches away at the near post.

Eventually though, the pressure paid off even with Brighouse remaining dangerous at the other end. Macaskill worked hard and got the ball to the byline and pegged the ball back. It evaded Rawson but landed with a highly advanced Lemon, who took a touch before hitting the shot low and into the back of the net.

Stocksbridge had the momentum and did look to get the winner in the last few moments. But with minimal stoppage time, and even that being cut short to what was expected with the referee seemingly keen to get out of the rain, they didn’t have enough time to get an unlikely three points.

Photos

• vs Brighouse Town – 16/8/22 (Photos by Ian Revitt & Myra Little)

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