Brighouse Old Boys 1 Otley Town 2

Otley Town recorded another vital win on Saturday, a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat, and in truth harsh on the home team, but with another three points in the bag they won’t care too much about that.

In the first-half, Brighouse made all the running and after 20 minutes could easily have been three or four goals to the good.

In particular they caused Town all sorts of problems down their left and carved open some excellent scoring opportunities for their strikers.

Fortunately for the visitors, the Brighouse forwards had left their shooting boots at home, and it was only following some glaring misses that the home side eventually took the lead, a deft glancing header from a right-wing cross giving stand-in goalkeeper Harry Higgins no chance.

The second half was a more even affair, but it wasn’t until Town made a double substitution and brought on Josh Waite and Tom Walker that it looked like they might get back into the game.

And it was the former who created for the latter, as Walker ran onto a lovely lofted pass to steer his shot into the bottom corner with around seven minutes to play.

Brighouse were stunned, and were still clearing their heads when Toby Harris ran clear of the defence only to be crudely scythed down by the home goalkeeper.

The referee bizarrely waved play on until his attention was finally attracted by the frantically flagging linesman.

After some consultation he gave Town a free-kick just outside the box and the goalkeeper a yellow card when clearly a red would have been more appropriate.

However, justice was done when Sam Jewell’s blistering shot could only be parried back into play and Tristan Holdsworth was on hand to deliver the coup de grace with scarcely a minute to go.

Despite the euphoria of a last minute victory, Town know they will need to play better than this if they are to continue their climb away from danger.

However seven points out of the last nine, all won away from home, is a clear sign that confidence is returning to a largely settled squad This Saturday Town have a home game against Shelley (2pm) and will be looking to extend their good run.