Some you win, some you lose, and some…...Well, they get abandoned at half time when you’re 3-0 ahead!!! Sods Law they call it. Nobody’s fault, Brig were tonight simply the victim of circumstance.

An evening coach journey took us in to deepest foggiest West Yorkshire. High up on Emley Moor, we arrived In good time to sample the wares of the local Village pub, The superb Ossett Brewery, White Horse Inn. A fine watering hole with a fabulous selection of Ossett’s finest Real Ales..And the odd Lager as well.


Leaving the pub and embarking on the 30 second walk to the wonderfully named “Fantastic Media Welfare Ground”. We couldn’t help but notice the Yorkshire Clag was beginning to descend, an eerie drizzly mist swirling around the floodlights. At this point we actually joked, “It’ll be just our luck that this game will get called off when we’re winning”! Many a true word spoken in jest.


The game started with The mist hovering over the pitch, we debated “Is it getting any worse?” Initially no, all was well. Brig had started really brightly and were zipping the ball around the slick, damp excellent looking playing surface. A couple of corners and a couple of decent free kicks had seen Brig come close, before on 10 minutes The Briggers took a deserved lead, Tom Barkhuizen with a superb left wing cross was neatly headed home by Temi Adjibola, for his first Brig goal, or so we thought at the time.


Brig almost made it two moments later as Jamie Allen burst towards goal, squared it to Emerich Poilly, who’s first time shot was superbly saved and pushed out for a corner by the home keeper. However, It wasn’t long before Brig were to double their advantage, Archie Lang with a fierce shot from the edge of the box, took a slight deflection and pinged into the roof of the net.

With the gloom beginning to thicken, thoughts began turning to “Surely Not?” Brig were enjoying their best 45 minutes of the season and looking for more. With the clock approaching stoppage time, Jamie Allen found space to volley home a right wing cross, I think it was from the right wing, hard to see at his point in proceedings.


The half time whistle blew. That was a very good half of football. The players had come out with fire in their bellies and deservedly looked to have the three points in the bag. But then…. With the players coming out for the second half, the home side  clearly advising the referee that conditions had worsened, in truth they had, although we could just about make out the goalposts at the far end, The referee made the decision to call off the match.

Rules in football change on what seems a monthly basis. Brig fans in the ground were convinced the rules suggested that if the ref could see both goals from half way, then play should continue. The referee later confirmed to us that the ruling now is that the officials must be able to see both ends of the pitch from the longest distance, in other words diagonally from corner flag to corner flag. I feel his decision was probably correct at the time. Despite the massive disappointment the fog did look to be getting thicker.


Then Sods Law bit us on the backside again, 20 minutes after the abandonment, the fog had lifted to be replaced by heavier drizzle. Suddenly the pitch was visible, but just too late. The goals will be chalked off and we will return at a later date to replay the fixture from the beginning again. But as they say, “Them’s The Rules!”

On the upside, we get to visit the superb White Horse Inn again. On the pitch, the players have shown us, and more importantly themselves that they have what it takes to climb us up the NPL table. So, we move on to Whitby Town at the weekend. More of the same please lads, let’s just hope we don’t have any coastal fog rolling in off the North Sea.