It’s West Yorkshire derby day at The Hunters Stadium as Pontefract Collieries welcome Brighouse Town to WF8 this afternoon.
Colls come into the fixture in good form, having made it two wins from two this week. A confident victory away at North Ferriby last weekend was followed by a gritty midweek win at Newton Aycliffe. Ponte dominated large spells of the first half in County Durham before being forced to dig in after the break, with strong defensive work and another assured display from in-form goalkeeper Harry Christy — helping secure all three points.
Those results have lifted Jimmy Williams’ side up to 4th in the table, level with Dunston but narrowly ahead on goals scored. Bradford (Park Avenue) sit just a point behind with a game in hand, underlining how tight the play-off race remains with eight games left to play.
Brighouse arrive with plenty going on of their own. They drew 0–0 with Hallam before suffering a 2–0 defeat away at Dunston in midweek. Shortly afterwards, the management team of Grant Black stepped down from their roles, leaving former Colls player Derry Robson in charge for this afternoon’s derby.
At the bottom end of the table, Brighouse sit 21st, seven points from safety, although they do have games in hand on the sides around them as they battle to climb out of trouble.
Brighouse are also one of only three teams to have beaten Ponte since the start of November. When the sides met earlier in the season, it was Town who came away with the points thanks to a single goal in a smash-and-grab victory on November 1st.
It’s a result that Colls will be keen to put right this afternoon.
With Ponte pushing to cement their place in the play-offs and Brighouse fighting to climb away from the bottom of the table, there’s plenty riding on this West Yorkshire derby.
Eight games remain — and every point matters. Kick-off at The Hunters Stadium is 3pm.