Colne’s return to league action on Saturday saw them slide to defeat on a wet and soggy Brighouse pitch in West Yorkshire. The Reds held the lead at half time through a Will Harris penalty but were reduced to ten men by the sending off of Sefton Gonzales in the second half and conceded two late goals to see the points slip from their grasp.
In the opening exchanges, Joe Coveney provided good crosses into the home goalmouth and Brighouse keeper Jordan Porter was soon in action to punch away the high balls. While at the other end, Shiraz Khan made some dangerous runs which were cut out by Alex Coleman in the Colne defence.
A good move by Tony Donaldson and Aidan Chippendale created a half chance for Connor Hughes but he saw his shot blocked in the home penalty area before Khan forced a good save by Hakan Burton in the Colne goal to keep out his shot at the near post on the half hour.
Three minutes later, Sefton Gonzales’ through ball released Will Harris for a run on goal and as he rounded the keeper, Porter brought him down for a clear penalty. Harris fired home the spot kick to give the Reds the lead.
Colne came close again after 39 minutes when Coveney’s free kick was headed goalward by Gonzales and brought a great one-handed save by Porter to keep it out of his net. As Colne continued to attack, Gonzales beat two defenders on the bye line but his low cross was blasted over the bar by Hughes from another good chance.
As the second half began, Gonzales had an early chance when he picked up a poor back-pass but Porter was out quickly to block his shot. Within a minute, Gonzales was through again in a one-on-one with the keeper and went down over Porter’s despairing dive at his feet but the referee refused the penalty claims and instead showed a yellow card to Gonzales for a dive.
Ten minutes later, Gonzales received his second yellow card of the game when he accidentally caught an opposing player with a high boot and was sent off reducing Colne to ten men.
Brighouse pressed forward looking to take advantage but Colne defended well with Matty Makinson and Lee Pugh making a series of good clearances.
The Reds began to create chances on the break and should have increased their lead after 68 minutes when Coveney’s through ball sent Harris clear but he shot straight at the keeper from a great chance. Two minutes later, another golden opportunity slipped away when Billy Hasler-Cregg released Harris up the right wing and his cross reached Hughes at the near post for a bullet header inches wide.
But Brighouse continued to pump balls into the Colne penalty area and after 77 minutes, the Reds defence failed to clear a loose ball and Luke Rawson scored a simple chance from close range to level the scores at 1-1. Three minutes later, Burton made a great save to keep out a diagonal shot by Khan that was headed for the top corner of his net as the home side increased the pressure.
After 84 minutes, a diagonal high ball into the Colne goalmouth was headed firmly down into the bottom corner of the net by Joe Jagger to give Brighouse the lead at 2-1. Although the Reds battled hard till the final whistle the pitch had taken its toll on their tiring legs and they were unable to find an equaliser.