FATHER and son Mitch and Nathan Cook both saw red as Pickering Town’s good run came to a juddering halt.

The Pikes were beaten 3-1 by Brighouse Town at the Recreation Ground in the Northern Counties East League premier division at the weekend as the game was soured by two moments of madness.

Boss Cook had already received a severe warning from referee Darren Whatling before he was sent to the stands with six minutes remaining following an incident with assistant referee Ben Naylor.

Nathan Cook had been cautioned, just three minutes into the match, for a lunging tackle which could easily have brought a straight red card, and he followed his dad in making a premature exit after throwing the ball at the back of the visiting goalkeeper’s head – earning himself a second yellow.

The opening goal had arrived for Brighouse on 16 minutes when a low cross by Ernest Boafo found an unmarked Joe Jagger.

His low shot gave Pickering custodian Callum Myers no chance.Josh Greening, Chris Batchelor and Tony Hackworth, who had also been given a yellow card, all had chances which were either missed or saved during the first half.

Tom Matthews, Jagger, and Boafo were always dangerous for the visitors and Ricky Nock put in some timely tackles to keep the score at 1-0.

The game followed a similar pattern after the break.

Jimmy Beadle was cautioned in the first minute of the second half for another lunging tackle which so easily could have seen a red card, but Brighouse then took a firm grip on the game, scoring two goals in four minutes.

Boafo netted on 49 minutes and Matthews soon after to kill the game off but Pickering did manage to pull a consolation goal back, three minutes from time, when Beadle found the target.

Pickering: Myers, Hawkes, Batchelor (Calvert 80), Patterson, Hackworth, Cook, Nock, Taylor (Dalton 57), Danby, Beadle, Greening (Fenwick 71). Subs not used: Giles.

Last Tuesday, the Pikes beat Armthorpe United 3-0 at home thanks to a brace from Josh Greening, on 27 and 37 minutes, and a Beadle goal after 69 minutes. This made it 22 goals in three games.

Having now dropped to eighth in the premier division table, Cook’s men visit Garforth Town on Saturday (3pm).

There is no Boxing Day match, the game with Bridlington having to be rearranged in the new year.

Pickering will meet first division side Dronfield Town in the third round of the NCEL League Cup, on a date yet to be arranged. Victory will book a quarter-final berth.

The club’s under-19s, meanwhile, lost 3-2 at Silsden in the Pat Rice Trophy.