Gary Liddle's side had gone into the match in fine form, following wins against Ashton United and Hednesford Town, but that momentum was halted with a goal in each half from Brig.

In what was a slow-burner of a match to begin with, the game eventually came to life largely down to referee Conor Ledgeway's inability to respectfully manage the encounter in what became a chaotic first-half.

In the tenth minute, Layton Watts created the first opportunity of the match when he instinctively stabbed the ball towards goal, resulting in a smart finger-tip save from Aidan Dowling.

Chris Churchman shot narrowly off target as Brig looked to create chances of their, and the away side continued to threaten with Billy Bould's shot being scuffed into the hands of Shane Bland.

In the 26th minute, the visitors had the ball in the opposite net - Kofi Moore powerfully slamming home after cutting inside from the left-wing.

For a 15-minute spell, the game descended into chaos with Ewan Range escaping what a looked a blatant red card following an elbow on Frankie Whelan. Meanwhile, Jake Charles was denied a free-kick when Nathaniel Knight-Percival shoved him to the ground before the now-bandaged up Whelan was then shown a straight red card following a late, but not malicious, challenge on Bange ahead of a trip to hospital for stitches.

Charles saw a header from Watts' cross saved as the half-time mark approached, then Bould drove at the Whitby defence but his low strike from the inside of the box was bravely saved by Bland.

Harley Dawson, who had been struggling for game time as of late, replaced James Harrison at the interval and Town looked to solidify themselves at the back with a man disadvantage.

Whitby started the second-half brightly and had a penalty shout turned down in the 50th minute when Adam Gell went to ground under challenge from two defenders. Now perhaps unsurprisingly, referee Ledgeway was uninterested, not even showing a yellow card for simulation to the Town midfielder.

Watts - who looked to be Whitby's most promising attacking outlet throughout the match - forced a spilt save from Dowling but Gell was unable to follow-up.

Donald Chimalilo struck towards goal but saw his low attempt blocked, but with Whitby struggling to find a way through, Liddle brought on Matthew Tymon for his first appearance since September's 0-0 draw with Prescot Cables.

Whitby continued to push with Gell forcing Dowling into a parried save following a low, fizzing effort, but neither he or his team-mates could get the Seasiders back into the game.

And the visitors struck a hammer blow when Jamie Allen was found on the edge of the box, and he calmly slotted beyond Bland.