04 November 2011 : Brandon give Town double trouble
Alnwick Town...0 Brandon United...2
STL Northern League, Division Two
ALNWICK Town’s miserable run of form continued as they lost 2-0 to Brandon United on Saturday.
A second-half double from Brandon’s Mark Brischuk condemned Alnwick to their fourth defeat on the bounce, which included a cup loss against Brandon on Thursday night.
Despite the rot, Alnwick started brightly on Saturday and dominated the first half.
Tom MacPherson’s header went just past the post early on before David Davison’s shot went over minutes later.
Visiting keeper Andrew Wilkinson then saved well from Bryan Murray.
Brandon’s only real effort of the first period was a header from Conor Winter after 40 minutes which went wide.
The hosts had the first chance of the second half, when, five minutes after the interval, Paul Hodge rifled a shot from the edge of the area but his effort was palmed away, just, by Wilkinson.
But Alnwick would pay the price for not converting one of their many chances into a goal.
With 58 minutes on the clock, Brandon broke the deadlock.
A poor corner by United saw the ball bounce through the penalty area past a number of players to find Brischuk who was alone at the far post to tap in (0-1).
And Alnwick were in double trouble after 75 minutes as Brandon extended their lead, when Brischuk tapped into the net (0-2).
With five minutes remaining, Town had an opportunity to grab themselves a lifeline when Ben Keenan slipped the ball into Davison, but his powerful shot went over.
The defeat was Alnwick’s second in three days at the hands of United, after the County Durham side knocked the Northumbrians out of the Ernest Armstrong Memorial Cup on Thursday night.
Alnwick took the chance to play a number of Reserves in the First Round cup encounter to give them experience at this level, and they performed well, giving a good account of themselves.
But a last-gasp extra-time goal from Conor Winter settled the contest, teeing up a 1-0 victory for Brandon and booked their safe passage into the next round of the competition.
Alnwick are in league action on Saturday when they travel to Whitehaven, kick-off 3pm. On Tuesday, Alnwick are at home to Chester-Le-Street in Round Two of the League Cup. Kick-off is at 7.30pm.
Alnwick Town (v Brandon United): Brooks, Murray, Catlow, Patterson, MacPherson, Young, Willis, MacFarlane (McMullen), Colley (Keenan), Paul Hodge (MacKenley), David Davison.