Brig’s FA Cup dreams ended by Buxton

Jamie Milligan’s side were looking to reach the fourth qualifying round for the first time since the 2015/16 season, where their run was ended by Brackley Town.

Further back than that, Brig reached the second round proper in 1999/00, eventually losing out to Cambridge United and a goal from future Premier League forward, Trevor Benjamin.

On this particular FA Cup occasion, Brig started brightly against National League North opposition, with Aaron Skinner providing threat down the left flank before sending in a cross that former Brig loanee Mathew Hudson had to claim.

The visitors began to grow into the ascendency after the 15 minute mark, however, with Lindon Meikle sending a 20-yard effort wide of the post.

Felix Goddard then made a number of excellent saves. The Blackburn Rovers loanee first denied a fierce strike from Scott Boden, before keeping out efforts from Tommy Elliott and Serhat Tasdemir.

But Buxton did open the scoring on 27 minutes. After another Goddard save, Jamie Vermiglio’s side worked the ball out to the right flank, before crossing in for Boden to score at the far post.

Brig had a number of opportunities before half-time, with Nathan Pond and Fin Sinclair-Smith both hitting efforts over the bar. But they were unable to find the all-important equaliser before half-time.

After the interval, Buxton extended their lead on 50 minutes, with Connor Kirby firing the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

But Milligan’s side again fought back, with Sinclair-Smith’s right-footed effort kept out by Hudson on 59 minutes. The hosts then almost pulled a goal back from a corner, a ball in by David Perkins being headed on by Nathan Pond, but Hudson was in the right place to keep it out.

Buxton added a third goal late on, Elliott breaking clear and squaring the ball to Kirby for his second of the match.

It is back to league action for Brig on Tuesday night, with a trip to Morpeth Town. Then, on Saturday, they will travel to Moss Rose to take on Danny Whitaker’s Macclesfield in the FA Trophy third qualifying round.