Boro slump to home defeat

Scarborough Athletic's tragic run of results continued on Tuesday night when Brighouse snatched a 1-0 win and the points at Queensgate.
Nathan Peat fights it out with BrighouseNathan Peat fights it out with Brighouse
Nathan Peat fights it out with Brighouse

This left Boro still craving that elusive victory as they have managed just the one point on the Evo-Stik North board since mid-November.

It was a real smash a grab by Brighouse, who took the lead through a glorious Daniel Facey strike in the first half.

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Despite creating little in the minutes that followed, they had their one big chance in the very last minute, but striker Tom Corner wasn't able to take it.

Nathan Peat fights it out with BrighouseNathan Peat fights it out with Brighouse
Nathan Peat fights it out with Brighouse

Preperations weren't ideal for the hosts as Dean Lisles injured his ankle in the warm-up to the game. This meant that Steve Mallory had to fill in at centre-half, while Jamie Forrester left his original position on the bench to play on the left of midfield.

Boro made a swift start to the fixture, with Corner and Ryan Blott finding pockets of space deep in the Brighouse half.

This early period of pressure yielded little though, as they failed to really test an immobile Brighouse defensive unit.

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The biggest test to the Brighouse resolve came from Boro defender Shane Killock, who was unlucky with an effort from a set-piece that he just failed to keep on target.

Nathan Peat fights it out with BrighouseNathan Peat fights it out with Brighouse
Nathan Peat fights it out with Brighouse

Blott was then unlucky as he found his way onto a knock down from Corner, but his drive went wide.

As has happened so many times this season, Boro were then punished for failing to snatch the advantage.

Brighouse's Facey was allowed acres of space on the right of the Boro defence and the striker smashed brilliantly into the top corner of the net from the tightest of angles.

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Boro tried to hit straight back, with Nathan Peat smashing a dipping shot just over the Brighouse bar and then James Pollard was on hand to clear a melee in the visiting box off the line.

Steve Kittrick's men could have found themselves dead and buried at the start of the second half, but James Hurtley's shot from inside the area smacked against the bar and somehow bounced to safety through a sea of players.

The action was toned down after this lively start to the period, though the tempo of the game was maintained.

A string of substitutions were made by both sides in a bid to shake things up, and that finally brought the game back to life in the dying embers.

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Firstly Sam Hewitt had another good chance to wrap up the points for Brighouse, but he blazed horrible wide of the target.

Then some neat play freed up Blott on the edge of the box, but the frontman sent his effort just over the angle of bar and post.

The fans were almost treated to a grandstand finish though when Boro cut neatly through the left side of the Brighouse defence in the very last minute.

Corner took it up on himself to fire at goal, but his low scuffed effort struck a defender and managed to skew up from off the line and over the bar.

This would have supplied Boro with what would have been a deserved point, but instead they trudged off having lost their 10th game in their last 11 outings.