Bamber Bridge into play-off final after shootout victory

The match, which was watched by a crowd of 1,215, finished 1-1 at the end of extra time, with both goals arriving in the first half of proceedings.

It took within five minutes for the first opening of the match to arrive, with veteran striker Clayton Donaldson hitting a volley just over the bar.

On 22 minutes, it was Brig that broke the deadlock – and it was a fitting goal for such an occasion.

Rhys Turner, returning to the starting XI following his goal in the 2-1 defeat to Ashton United on Saturday, was played through on goal before producing a superb lob from 20 yards which went over the head of goalkeeper Matt Yates and into the net.

Gainsborough levelled the scores on 42 minutes with a goal that certainly rivalled it in terms of quality. From 25 yards out, Curtis Durose fired in an effort through a crowded Brig penalty area that nestled into the bottom corner.

Early in the second half, Brig were reduced to 10 players when Nathan Pond was shown a red card for a foul on Liam Waldock.

And Waldock called Preston North End loanee James Pradic into action on 61 minutes, with the young goalkeeper making a fine one-on-one stop to deny Gainsborough’s number 10.

Visiting substitute Luther Munakandafa had the best chance of the rest of the second half, placing a 20-yard shot just wide of the post on 84 minutes.

Extra time was thus called for, and Brig’s Isaac Sinclair saw his drilled shot go just wide on 93 minutes.

Clear cut chances were few and far between for the remainder of the 120 minutes, with Brig’s Danny Forbes hitting an effort over the bar and Fraser Preston failing to find the target from 25 yards for the visitors.

That meant a penalty shootout - and Brig were up first.

Dawson, Sinclair-Smith and Finlay Cross-Adair all netted from the spot for Brig, with Gainsborough’s trio of Donaldson, Waldock and Preston doing likewise.

Aaron Skinner then made it four out of four for Brig - and they were handed the advantage when Pradic produced a superb diving stop to keep out Isaac Price’s penalty.

Captain Macauley Wilson had the responsibility of taking Brig’s next penalty, and he made no mistake with a composed finish to send Jamie Milligan’s side through to the play-off final.

Brig will take on Warrington Town on Monday at 3pm after the Yellows defeated Matlock 4-1 earlier in the evening. Due to Warrington finishing ahead of Brig in the regular season, the fixture will be played at their Cantilever Park stadium.