HOLLINGWORTH DOUBLE SEALS VICTORY FOR BRIGHOUSE

BRIGHOUSE TOWN FC 4 V ASHTON UTD 1
PRE SEASON FRIENDLY @ DUAL SEAL STADIUM
1 AUGUST 2015 2PM KICK OFF

STAND AT THE DUAL SEAL STADIUM BRIGHOUSE TOWN FC

Brighouse secured a victory over Evostik Premier League club Ashton Utd thanks to a first half goal from Daniel Facey, a second half strike from James Pollard and then two late goals from Steve Hollingworth.
The game, on paper, promised much 1st v 2nd.........Ashton Utd 1st alphabetically in the Premier and Brighouse 2nd in the Evostik North by the same calculation! So a first visit to The Dual Seal Stadium was planned and on the public transport front there are many possible ways of arriving into Brighouse.
Todays 2pm kick off meant that there was not much time to have a look around the town which was reached by changing of trains in Sheffield before making the short walk to Huddersfield bus station for the 15 minute journey to Brighouse.  A quick dash then got us onto a bus to Hove Edge on the edge of the town and following a steep climb it was a wise choice to make.  A short hop off the bus saw us arrive at a now damp ground just before 1pm.  It has to be said that we avoided humming the Floral Dance, a hit record for The Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band way back when, you will probably need to be over 45 to remember it and then later Terry Wogan added his dulcet tones to the track.

MODERN ROTATING TURNSTILES

Interestingly on the walk to the bus station the blog met up with fellow hopper and regularly met Michael who was off to Honley and we managed a quick catch up before going to our separate games.
Entrance to the ground is by the right hand side of the two rotating turnstiles and this is quite a smart start.  With the rain starting to come down fast we made an early retreat into the club house which features bar, snack bar and TV screen with a wide selection of tables and seats. First point here is we were offered a warm welcome by all and as regular readers will know this always goes down well, at the end we were also wished well with a pleasant cheerio. 

A SIDE OVER VIEW BEFORE SHELTERING FROM THE RAIN

Leaving Mick in the bar with pie and peas I decided to risk the rain and do the tour of the ground. Down the immediate side to our entrance is a covered standing area which soon becomes a seated stand featuring a long two rowed section of white tip up seats, this area is covered by scaffolding type of covering.  At the far end is a tidy little slabbed terraced area, behind the far goal is flat hard standing and to the side opposite the stand again we have flat standing with two dug outs with a TV gantry situated between them both, also of note in the background is the Emley Moor TV mast which seems to follow the blog around this area of Calderale.  Behind this standing area is a large training area and the whole ground is smartly fenced off in a very tidy and well ordered manner.  Most of the clubs activities are situated behind the goal were we entered the ground the changing rooms are well back from the pitch offering a railed off walkway.  I don't know the history of the ground but looking at the positioning of the floodlights I suspect the pitch may have been moved away from the stone built changing facilities.  The club then has a collection of various sized green cabins featuring hospitality, toilets and the club house.  Its a basic ground but its obvious selling point is the tidiness and care that goes into keeping the ground clean and in shape with work going on when we arrived today too.
Full credit today to Brighouse who kindly produced a team sheet which I managed to take a photo of for the blog report.  The disappointing aspect of this was Ashton's listing of every player as A. Trialist, accepting this was a mixed team from the visitors some of the players were clearly first team players. 

ASHTON UTD'S FORMER ST MIRREN PLAYER WILL HAINING

As the players came out the rain became more heavy and the first half was played in a constant and increasing strength of downpour.  Ashton started with Will Haining, Lee Rick, Sam Wilson and Ole Martin in their team indeed it was nice to see Haining a former St Mirren player on show.
As a further little point today we had seen a St Mirren fan today at Sheffield station on his way to Hillsborough for their pre season friendly.  It was the home side who took the lead on 8 minutes when James Pollard crossed for Daniel Facey to squeeze the ball home and that's how it remained at half time.

The second half swathe rain subside and the visitors equalise on 53 minutes a lovely finish from the number 17 [A. Trialist] who on enquiry was apparently called Danny, Ashton claimed to not know his surname!?  Shame there was no name because it was a lovely finish taken with a real confidence.

Anyway this seemed to bring Ashton back into the game and the battle for Brighouse now was to hang on.  Hold on they did going on to score three in the last 8 minutes.  Pollard was provider in the first half but on 82 minutes he turned to fire home a lovely effort into the bottom right hand corner from 20 yards.  It was then the turn of Stephen Hollingworth to make the game safe he turned in an Ash Scully cross off the right on 85 minutes and then with two minutes of normal time remaining he smashed a Matt Stor assist into the roof of the net from close range.
Dash back to the bus stop followed in the now restarted sharp rain and it was nice to meet an Ashton Utd supporter on his was back to Holmfirth, sorry didn't get your name, there was an interesting football chat and our other connection in Wales before we departed on a different bus to Huddersfield.
A convenient 45 minute wait in Huddersfield allowed a visit to the Big M before departing Huddersfield on a three[!!] carriage train....luxury.  Comfortable change on Sheffield, were we saw the same St Mirren fan again and a Wolves fan from their game at Doncaster all a sign that the football season is on the way back. 
Overall then the day saw a nice first visit to Brighouse a shame there wasn't a little more time in our schedule to take a look around and that it was a wet wet day but the warmth of the welcome from Brighouse warmed the day up well done guys!

3 CARRIAGED 144 AT HUDDERSFIELD