Brighouse Town 0, Winterton Rangers 3

Brighouse’s task to beat Winterton got even bigger once the fourth-placed Northern Counties East League Premier Division side had taken a fourth-minute lead at the Dual Seal Stadium.

Town boss Paul Quinn was left to lament the fact that Liam Slack’s opening goal was allowed by some appropriate defending from his team.

The same could also be said about Gavin Cooper’s second for Rangers early in the second half.

Eighth-placed Brighouse then failed to convert from the spot at a time when a spirited fightback could have made the visitors nervous.

Tom Matthews had weaved his way into Rangers’ area before being brought down but, having got up to take the resulting penalty, he saw the Winterton keeper make a good save.

Rangers underlined their superiority when they ran in a third goal in the penultimate minute, with Shaun Nesbitt on target.

Town vice-chairman and spokesman Ray McLaughlin said: “We had gone three at the back and were pushing forward to try to get something from the game when they scored their last goal.

“Missing the penalty was a huge blow because there were about 12 minutes left.

“Their lad was shown a yellow card but we felt it should have been a red because he was last man, as it was just yards off the line.

“Still, it didn’t matter and Paul felt we hadn’t played well but had shown the right attitude and never gave up. We just got beaten by the better side.”