Bamber Bridge 1-3 Garforth Town
Bamber Bridge’s play-off hopes were dented by a 3-1 defeat to Garforth Town at the QED Stadium on Saturday.
One goal was not enough for a Brig side which was guilty of missing chance after chance throughout the match.
Adam Hayward put Garforth ahead with a second-half penalty before Stephen Brown equalised for the home side, but a brace for midfielder Greg Kelly sealed a win for Town.
Newly-appointed boss Neil Crowe made three changes to the line-up which beat Curzon Ashton in the last game as Jamie Nay, Steven Smith and Michael Mason came in for Phil Mitchell, Stuart Shepherd and Sean O’Neil.
Garforth went into the match having lost all but one of their last six matches, despite having scored 12 goals.
Blustery conditions made it difficult for either side to settle, but Brig were on the front foot from the start against a Garforth defence which had not kept a clean sheet in six matches.
The first clear goal-scoring opportunity came on 12 minutes, when striker Alex Porter sent a ball across goal to Tom Ince, but he could not get enough contact on the ball to convert the chance.
On 20 minutes, a ball was played through to Garforth's Adam Hayward, but his shot was saved well by Brig goalkeeper Paul Horridge.
Brig had a strong spell of pressure on the Garforth goal, with a succession of corners, but the away defence was holding strong and Town were frustrating Brig by slowing down the pace of the game.
On 40 minutes, Brig had their best chance of the half, as a series of shots were either blocked by the garforth defence of saved by goalkeeper Luke Gibbons.
The ball fell to midfielder Ryan Bowen on the edge of the box, but he could not keep a powerful shot on target and it skewed wide.
Balls were now raining in on the away side’s goal. Moments later, striker Mason barged through the defence and laid a ball across goal into the path of Porter but he failed to connect from inside the six-yard box.
Garforth started the better side in the second half, putting pressure on the Brig defence, but it was the home side who came close to taking the lead.
Tom Ince made a well-crafted run and found Mason, but the striker’s shot blazed wide of the goal.
On 59 minutes, Garforth substitute Bryce Tiani played a pass to Kelly, whose 25-yard shot was a decent effort, but was narrowly wide of the target.
A penalty on 66 minutes broke the deadlock. Hayward burst into the Brig box, but was brought down by home captain Glenn Steel.
The striker picked himself up to place the ball comfortably past Horridge.
The lead only lasted seven minutes though, as Brown equalised from a corner, drilling the ball through a crowded box, after it was played to him 25-yards out.
Brig could smell blood and started to push up, against the side who had scored but still lost in all of five of their last six games.
But as they pushed up, missed chance after missed chance went by, before Garforth countered on 85 minutes.
They raced forward and, having seen Kelly miss an almost open goal moments earlier, Hayward made sure of a second goal for Garforth by squaring to Kelly, who made no mistake this time, placing the ball into the empty net with a cool finish.
In the last minute, Kelly scored his second in quick succession with a similarly slick break for Garforth a surprise win for the away side.
Bamber Bridge: Paul Horridge, Jamie Nay, Matt Mahoney (Phil Mitchell 45mins), Steve Williams, Glenn Steel, Steve Smith, Stephen Brown, Ryan Bowen (Anthony Murt 71ms), Michael Mason (Sean O'Neil 79mins), Alex Porter, Tom Ince. Unused subs: Colin McAllister, Aaron Tyrer
Garforth Town: Luke Gibbons, Nathan Kamara (George Williams 70mins), Nick Jagger, Lee Connor, Brett Renshaw, Duncan Williams, Adam Clark (Fidel Mhlolo 90mins), Wayne Harratt, Adam Hayward, Graham Marchant (Bryce Tiani 45mins), Greg Kelly
Attendance: 114
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