Brighouse are comeback victims

It extended their run without a win in the league to nine games, six of which have been draws.

An injury after four minutes to visiting centre back Phil Clarke led to a lengthy delay, with play not resuming until 4.05pm.

Jack Stockdale hit a post for the hosts on 24 minutes and Dan Illingworth opened the scoring for Brighouse three minutes later from close range, after the ball had been headed against the bar from a corner.

Kurt Harris made it 2-0 with a turn and superb strike from 25 yards on 39 minutes and Leon Osborne went close to making it 3-0 with an effort against the woodwork, after a fine run, seven minutes into the second half.

Instead, the visitors from Tameside turned the game on its head with three goals in 11 minutes, starting with a Tom Peers header on 57 minutes.

Luke Daly levelled matters with a shot into the corner of the net from the edge of the area and Domaine Rouse’s excellent run and finish put Droylsden 3-2 up.

Brighouse would have salvaged a point but for a brilliant save from visiting keeper James Coates with little more than one minute to play.

Paul Quinn’s one-time leaders Brighouse are now ninth in the table. They travel to third from bottom Goole on Boxing Day and host Ossett Town on Thursday, December 29.