Bamber Bridge 3, Ossett Town 2

The sides went in level at half-time, with goals from Gerard Garner for Brig and Isaac Assenso for Ossett.

But two goals in the first 15-minutes of the second-half from Macauley Wilson and Brad Carsley fired the hosts into a 3-1 lead, before Martin Pembleton pulled one back late on for the visitors.

The first effort on goal came from Brig’s Danny Forbes, who dragged his half volley from just outside the box wide of the post.

After a first 20-minutes of precious little in terms of chances, it was the hosts who hit the front courtesy of a lovely finish from Garner.

Regan Linney found Adam Dodd on the left after tenacious work out wide, and the left-back’s cross picked out Garner who finished expertly on the volley to fire Brig into the lead.

The goal scorer Garner had Brig’s next effort in search for a second, but his audacious chipped effort landed wide of the mark on the half hour mark.

It looked as though Neil Reynold’s side would go in at half time in the ascendency, but once Lloyd Rigby had saved well from the corner, Isaac Assenso bundled the ball home after pinball inside the Brig box.

Brig’s captain Michael Potts received a booking prior to the equaliser, after a scuffle on the half-way line.

Brad Carsley then went close to restoring the lead for the hosts, but the striker’s shot was well saved by Wigglesworth who closed the angle down well.

After a quiet first forty-minutes in terms of chances, the last five minutes saw the half come to life.

Nicky Boshell rattled the ball home for Ossett, but the linesman’s flag was raised for offside, before Macauley Wilson went down under the challenge of Wigglesworth inside the box, only to see the referee award a corner kick.

A surging run from Linney down the left gave Brig the perfect chance to regain their lead, after the striker was bundled over inside the box.

Wilson stepped up to take the spot kick and slotted the ball confidently, low and hard into the back of the net.

That goal breathed a new hunger into the hosts, Potts the next to have an effort, the captain’s header crashing off the crossbar.

On the hour mark Neil Reynolds’ side gained a cushion after a lovely move between Brad Carsley and Garner.

Carsley held the ball up magnificently, found Garner, who returned the ball with a perfectly weighted pass, for the Brig number-nine to smash home at the second time of asking.

After that goal, Garner was replaced by James Boyd, who got himself straight into the action with a drilled shot straight at Wigglesworth.

Despite looking comfortable at 3-1, a nervy final 20-minutes was set up when Martin Pembleton pulled one back for Ossett, with a low drive into the bottom corner from just inside the box.

Lee Ashforth’s side went in search of a leveller, but the Brig back line stood tall and defended resolutely.

Lloyd Rigby was called into action on 87 minutes, the shot-stopper made a fantastic acrobatic save to turn Boshell’s header behind for a corner.

Brig dug in and saw the game out in a professional manner to earn an important three points at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium, that sees them keep the pace with the teams at the top of the league.