Bamber Bridge progressed into the 1st qualifying round of The FA Cup in a hard fought encounter at The Sir Tom Finney Stadium this afternoon. Brig edged the game 3-2 with a last minute winner from Jamie Milligan. The game however, was marred by serious head injury to Brig centre forward Brad Carsley, who left the stadium in an ambulance after colliding with the concrete perimeter fence.

The first half started with Brig attacking towards The ClubhouseEnd and within the first two minutes almost took the lead when Danny Forbes got his on the end of an inswinging free kick, the Brighouse keeper had to stretch to tip it over the bar for a corner. From that corner, Brad Carsley headed just wide.

On 5 Minutes Brighouse Town took the lead when they broke down the left wing, a low cross in to the middle was met by Aaron Martin who slotted the ball home,

Brig responded and Matt Lawlor was unlucky with a low drive from 15 yards that the keeper pushed round the post for a corner. The Bamber Bridge equaliser arrived on 12 minutes. A superb reverse pass from Daniel Mooney found Matt Dudley in the 6 yard box, as he swivelled on the ball he was brought down. Michael Potts stepped up and calmly sent the visito'rs keeper the wrong way.

On 15 minutes the game was held up for following a serious looking head injury to Brad Carsley. Brad was looking to put in a cross as he raced towards the byline, the ensuing challenge sent him hurtling towards the concrete perimeter fence which he collided with head first. The referee saw the incident and immediately signalled for attention. Brad was put in to the recovery position and the medical staff awaited the ambulance which arrived within 8 minutes. Brad was carefully moved on to a stretcher with a neck brace and taken to hospital.

The game resumed with a Bamber Bridge free kick after a 25 minute delay. Regan Linney replacing Brad Carsley. The injury seemed to have an effect on all the players as the rest of the half was played out with very little incident. The nearest we came to a goal was a Phil Doughty header from a corner that went wide of the far post.

The second half started with Brig on the front foot. A Regan Linney goal bound effort was blocked on the line. Brighouse responded and retook the lead on 56 minutes. Nat Brown rising highest from a corner to power a header into the net. Lloyd Rigby then pulled off another fine save to prevent the visitors increasing the lead.

Brig Manager Neil Reynolds decided to make changes on the hour, firstly bringing on Jamie Milligan for Danny Forbes and followed by Chris Marlow for Dan Mooney.

With the game seemingly drifting towards an away victory, and just 5 minutes remaining Jamie Milligan spotted the Brighouse keeper off his line, and from the centre circle launched a superb audacious shot that sailed over the keeper and into the back of the net.

Brig now with their tails up, pushed forward looking for the winner. In the 91st minute they were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Up stepped Jamie Milligan to smash a screamer around the wall and in off the post as the keeper dived full stretch down to his left.

Within seconds of the restart the referee blew the final whistle to end a pulsating game and see Bamber Bridge into the hat for the next round.

After the match the Brig medical team gave an update on the injury to Brad Carsley. Brad was treated in hospital for a head injury but was discharged on Saturday evening. We send our best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.

A full gallery of match photos is available on the BBFC Flickr page https://flic.kr/s/aHsm3aEcsg

Half time: Bamber Bridge 1 - 1 Brighouse Town 1

Full Time: Bamber Bridge 3 - 1 Brighouse Town 2

Man of the Match (Voted by BBFC supporters): Michael Potts

Bamber Bridge Team: Rigby, Mahoney, Dodd, Lawlor (c), Doughty, Potts, Waddecar, Forbes (Milligan 60) , Carsley (Linney 15) Dudley, Mooney (Marlow 60)
Subs (not used): Wilson, Staunton-Turner, Barton