FA Cup Preliminary Round
Brighouse Town 1-2 Penistone Church
A ‘Wayne Hughes goal’ caused an upset as Penistone Church condemned Brighouse Town to more FA Cup woe.
Hughes was credited as the Church hero after Brighouse goalkeeper Michael Roxburgh dropped the ball into his own net with 18 minutes of play left.
Just like Nathan Keightley’s first half deadlock breaker, the winner was against the run of the play as Brighouse controlled the majority of the contest.
Although smash and grab could be used to describe the memorable win, Penistone’s disciplined performance provided the backbone as they were solid throughout and they took their two chances when they came.
Church now go into Monday’s draw where they could be potentially be paired against former manager Ian Richards’ Stocksbridge Park Steels.
Brighouse will have to wait until next year to try and end their winless FA Cup run which stretches back to 2016.
The signs of a Brighouse victory were good in the early exchanges as Vill Powell’s men were having a lot of joy going forward.
Brighouse’s best player Mohammed Qasim used left-back James Young as a play-thing as he tore him to shreds.
Yet it was Church who gained the front-foot when Coduri hammered the ball into the top corner in the 28th minute.
The home side soon responded with Qasim lashing in a beauty from the edge of the penalty area.
Brighouse dominated the second half but failed to put their foot down when in the final third.
Harry Wilkinson had their best chance when he headed wide from a free header from a corner.
The reaction of the crowd and players told how much of a missed opportunity it was and it would come back to haunt as out of nothing, Roxburgh spilling the ball under pressure from Hughes gifted Church the lead.
Brighouse failed to mount a full-frontal response and Penistone should have put the game to bed as two chances followed – including one where Keightley was denied in a one-on-one situation with Roxburgh.
What They Said
Brighouse Town manager Vill Powell
“We weren’t good enough and I’ve given them a rocket in there.
“We started brightly and I was pleased with the start as we created lots of chances in the first 15 minutes.
“What we did is get complacent and allowed the game to settle without being relentless.
“We got sloppy and although their first goal was a great goal we didn’t clear our lines.
“You say ‘let’s see what our character is like’.
“Mo (Qasim) was doing brilliantly and he scored the equaliser which was a great goal.
“After that I didn’t think we had enough character in the group and we let the game pass us by.
“When you do that you can always get caught out and that’s what happened with the goal.
“We were flat, we weren’t on the ascendancy.
“They weren’t causing many problems, I don’t recall the ‘keeper making any real saves.
“He was at fault for the goal but before that we should have dealt with the situation.
“We were the architects of our downfall.”
Penistone Church manager Steve Lenthall
“It was always going to be a case of that they would have more of the ball.
“They’re a quality outfit with fit players and great players. Number ten (Jack) Boyle is a class act and he hurt us a lot in the first half.
“We spoke at half-time about letting them have the ball and it was about us being strong and disciplined in how we dealt with their players.
“I thought we did that superbly in the second half.
“They didn’t really open us up.
“Maybe it was smash and grab but it is an FA Cup tie, we’re in it to win it and fortunately we did.”
The Teams
Brighouse Town: Roxburgh, Nebard, Charlton, Harrison, Beeden, Wilkinson, Qasim, Haigh (captain), Normanton (Sorhaindo 63), Boyle (Gibbons 63), Reed (Thomas 75). Subs used: Tetley, Walker, Thomas, Gregory.
Penistone Church: Ambler, Johnson, Young, Howes (captain), Hughes, Lovell, Coduri, Firth (Newsome 76), Keightley, Ryan, High (Hurles-Brook 71). Subs unused: Snaith, Broughton, Ellis.
Who Was In Charge
Thomas Smith (10/10)
How Many Were There
225
Man of the Match
Jordan Coduri (Penistone Church)
