Bridlington Town 2 v 0 Sherwood Colliery
By Alexander Fynn
Bridlington Town remain in the Northern Counties Premier League East relegation zone; however, they claimed a crucial 2-0 win against Sherwood Colliery at the Mounting Systems Stadium.
Head Coach Mike Thompson made one change to his matchday squad, with Josh Barrett replacing striker Danny Earl.
In a game that was never going to be a classic, it remained very flat for the first 10 minutes or so. Michael Coulson had the first real opportunity for the Seasiders when Sam Kay fired a through ball to Coulson. The centre-mid took a touch but left the Sherwood defence with a little too much time, and the attack came to nothing.
Bridlington were lucky not to concede around 25 minutes in when Terry Atem had a chance for the Colliery from the penalty spot, but Atem’s spot kick was shot wide of the post, although it appeared Brid’s stopper Hall would have covered the danger.
Ahmed Salam swung in a left-footed free kick into Josh Barrett, but he headed his shot just wide of the post. However, Simon Heslop broke the deadlock for the Seasiders from a corner. The ball fell to Barrett, and with a scramble in the goalmouth, the captain latched onto the ball first and fired it into the net.
The Seasiders found their first chance of the second period when Tom Allan had a header from a Salam corner; however, his chance went agonisingly over the bar.
The Seasiders did double their lead from a Salam free kick. Allan headed the ball off the post, but it was a Sherwood Colliery player who tapped the ball into his own net.
Josh Barrett was one-on-one with the keeper, but Sherwood’s shot-stopper Jordan Pierrepont pulled off a superb reflex save to prevent Barrett from scoring.
At the other end of the field, William Gillies had a chance to get The Woods on the scoresheet when the substitute hit a shot from just outside the area, but the Seasiders’ number one had the ball covered. Head Coach Mike Thompson made his first substitution when Ahmed Salam came off for Sam Leverett.
Tom Allan almost made it 3 with a header from a Leverett corner, but it was brilliantly saved by the Colliery keeper. Thompson made his second substitution with around 10 minutes to go, bringing Sam Kay off for Dan Hartley. The Colliery did have a chance to pull one back late on as William Clements was one-on-one with the keeper, although Charlie Winfield muscled the ball off the Sherwood attacker.
Mike Thompson said this after the match: “We are over the moon; the clean sheet was massive. We drilled it into the boys before the match. Last week was a bit strange to lose the game 4-0; we have played a lot worse, but it’s been swings and roundabouts.”
Bridlington head to Heaton Stannington next week, which could prove crucial as the Seasiders battle relegation in the NPL East.
