Penistone Church moved up to third in the NCEL Division 1 table with a dominant 4-0 victory over Brigg Town on my first every visit to Church View Road.

Seven days on from my last live match at Maltby Main, I was back on my travels this Wednesday evening – making Penistone Church the location of my 74th ground.

Based in South Yorkshire, the club were formed in 1906 but have only been playing in their current position at step ten of the football pyramid since 2014.

However, they are clearly a club on the up. Their first season in the Northern Counties East League nearly resulted in promotion to the Premier Division, the club finishing fifth in the league before succumbing to AFC Emley in the play-off semi-finals.

Their ground, Church View Road, is a good standard for this level with an excellent clubhouse and decent 100-seater stand, all of which is surrounded by a picturesque setting.

Penistone, who play in black and white stripes, have made another good start to the campaign – remaining unbeaten and winning three of their opening four league outings.

By far the most remarkable game of the season had taken place at their home two Saturday’s previous, as they defeated Grimsby Borough 9-5 in a fourteen-goal thriller!

Their opponents this evening were twice-FA Vase winners Brigg Town, a Lincolnshire-based team who were relegated to step ten last season by finishing 21st in the NCEL Premier.

They had also made a good start to this campaign, winning their first three league games, but had been defeated in their two most recent outings – 4-3 to Eccleshill United and 6-1 to King’s Lynn Town in the FA Cup.

Unlike our previous three non-league outings, there was no early goal this evening although it was still an entertaining, end-to-end affair with good chances for both sides to break the deadlock in the opening half hour.

But it wasn’t until the 38th minute that the game had it’s first goal as Penistone’s Dale Kelly outpaced the defender before slotting the ball into the bottom left corner to put the hosts ahead at the interval.

Seconds after the restart and the home side had doubled their advantage courtesy of a looping far post header from Tom Cadzow

And four minutes later, the victory was all but sealed for Penistone when Ryan Johnson slotted home from inside the area after an original effort had been palmed away by the Brigg goalkeeper.

Two goals in a four-minute spell appeared to kill of the game off as a contest, with the outcome now in little doubt, and the second period was fairly routine for the home side – who added a fourth late on through Danny Joynes’ first time strike from inside the area.

The victory, which arrived from what the club’s twitter account described as their best performance of the season, moved Penistone up to third place in the table – behind only Hall Road Rangers and Hallam, with a game in hand on the two above them.

Penistone Church 4–0 Brigg Town

Dale Kelly ’38, Tom Cazdow ’46, Ryan Johnson ’50, Danny Joynes ’90

Att: 181

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