Bridlington Town 0 v 3 Cleethorpes Town
By Ben Edwards
It was a bitterly cold Tuesday evening underneath the Queensgate floodlights, where Cleethorpes Town picked up a 3-0 win against Bridlington Town. Adrian Costello opted for an unchanged starting lineup, with Ryan Caulfield making the bench as George Harrison missed out through illness.
The opening ten minutes were very uneventful, with Cleethorpes enjoying the vast majority of possession in the hosts half.
That was until Matt Broadley won a free kick on the left flank deep into the Cleethorpes half after being tripped by Tim Lowe, who was the first man to be cautioned. Ali Aydemir whipped the free kick into the box, finding Jack Bulless but his close-range header was over.
Right-winger Curtis Bateson looked the danger man for the visitors, beating his man on multiple occasions but his shots were always blocked. On the 26-minute mark, he whipped in a dangerous low cross but nobody was there to meet it.
Just two minutes later, Cleethorpes found the opening goal of the game. Former Bridlington Town player Will Annan saw his strike palmed onto the post by James Hitchcock, but the ball then slowly bounced over the line.
With a little over five minutes until the break, a man got past Bulless but his effort was saved by Hitchcock. The rebound fell to Annan but his shot was blocked.
Bridlington Town would have been hoping to get to the break at just 1-0, though this wasn’t the case. Referee Samuel Packer awarded a penalty to Cleethorpes after a foul by Bulless.
Up stepped captain Alex Flett, who made no mistake, sending Hitchcock the wrong way and slotting the ball calmly into the bottom right. With the Owls going into the break 2-0 up, it was a tough task for Costello’s side in the next 45 minutes.
After a double substitution seeing Mackenzie Warne and Nick Hutton replace Tom Algar and Ali Aydemir, the hosts came out the second half the livelier, however, when Jack Griffin received the ball 35-yards from goal. He took a touch to set himself before firing an effort just wide.
Will Sutton then played a good cross from the left which found the head of Jake Martindale, but he could only guide it straight at James McKeown in goal. Our best chance of the game then came when Lewis Dennison was played through one-on-one, but he delayed too long and the angle became too acute.
Warne unleashed an effort from the edge of the area. It went wide of the left post but a late challenge on him from behind saw a free kick awarded, though nothing came from the set-piece.
An excellent run by Broadley from the half way line saw him get past Lowe, but his curled effort from range flew over the bar. Bridlington Town dominated the first 15 minutes of the second half, but couldn;t make the pressure count by finding a goal.
Cleethorpes very nearly had a third when Bateson’s low effort completely beat Hitchcock and hit the inside of the right post. Luckily, the ball rolled across the goal-line and straight into the arms of the shot-stopper.
It was a quiet next 20 minutes with the Owls happy to control the play and keep hold of the ball. Flett capped off a brilliant display in the midfield with his second goal of the game, a screamer from outside the penalty area that flew into the penalty area.
Cleethorpes Town headed back down the East Coast with a deserved three goals and three points. Bridlington Town now look to bounce back on the road at Pontefract Collieries.
