Report

Consett’s quest for a point to guarantee Northern Premier League football next season will go to the last game after they lost 2-0 at Brighouse Town.

With Arjun Purewal and Dan Capewell both injured and Ben Milburn suspended, the Steelmen were without all three regular central defenders, and top scorer Zak Atkinson was also missing through injury.

They lined up with midfielder Matty Slocombe and striker Scott Fenwick at the heart of their back four, and Danny Barlow and Nathan Greenwood up front.

The game kicked off in bright sunshine in front of a season’s-best crowd of 427, and it was the home side, who had won their last three games to all-but-secure their own NPL status, who started quicker.

Their first chance came after six minutes, when Tom Haigh tried his luck after a free-kick was only half-cleared, but his effort was off target. Two minutes later Mohammed Ibrahim had an excellent chance when he met a cross from the right, but made a complete hash of his unmarked header.

Midfielder Scott Jasper became the latest addition to Consett’s injury list when he limped off after 10 minutes, to be replaced by Adam Mitchell. The substitute had only been on the field two minutes when Brighouse created another chance, with keeper Mark Foden saving Jamelle Clarke’s shot with his legs at his near post.

It was 15 minutes before Consett had a sniff of goal, and in truth they should have taken the lead. Fenwick’s pass released Barlow, and instead of opting to chip oncoming goalkeeper Jamie Hassall he went for power at the near post, and the keeper saved.

As has been the case all too often this season the missed chance proved costly, as a minute later the home side took the lead. Hassall’s long ball sent Jack Boyle away down the right, and he smashed a low, hard drive through Foden’s legs to make it 1-0.

Consett almost equalised midway through the first half when Barlow set up Josh Baggs, but Hassall again made a good save, and Barlow then headed wide from Fenwick’s deep cross.

On 33 minutes Brighouse went close to doubling their lead, as Mohammad Qasim found space for a close-range header, but this time Foden got down well to keep his effort out.

Barlow looked like Consett’s most likely source of a goal as half-time approached. He had one shot blocked by a defender, fired a free-kick into the defensive wall, and put another effort weakly at Hassall as the visitors tried to get on level terms.

Half-time: Brighouse Town 1 Consett 0

Despite trailing at half-time, Consett were still very much in the game, and they tried an ambitious attempt on goal straight from the kick-off, with Jake Orrell launching a long-range effort from inside his own half after spotting the keeper off his line, but it dipped over the bar.

Sadly, that was to prove their only attempt on goal for some time as Brighouse began to dominate possession and chances. There was a let-off for Consett on 50 minutes as Ibrahim wriggled free and was left clear on goal, but rolled his shot just wide of the far post.

Haigh, Boyle and Qasim all put chances wide as Brighouse peppered their visitors’ goal, and Boyle fired a free-kick just over the bar after Foden was yellow-carded for a high challenge on Clarke outside his penalty area.

The pressure finally told in the 63rd minute when Joshua Grant picked up the ball on the left 25 yards out and fired an unstoppable diagonal shot past Foden and into the top corner to make it 2-0.

Consett laboured for a way back, but the game lost a lot of its momentum amid a flurry of substitutions, and they struggled to make any headway against a well-organised Brighouse defence.

The visitors created little apart from a half-chance for sub Oscar Taylor in added time, while Brighouse were happy to see out the win, which guaranteed their own NPL status.

Victories for Lincoln and Grantham and an unlikely draw for Ossett at champions Worksop mean Consett drop a place to 14th, and still need a point in their last game to be sure of not being involved in the end of season play-offs.
MATCH REPORT & PICTURES: GARY WELFORD