By Alexander Fynn
Bridlington Town 2 v 2 Emley Town
An early second-half goal from Eddie Kettlewell was enough for Bridlington Town as they fought out a 2–2 draw with promotion-chasing Emley, denting their title hopes of closing the gap on Redcar Athletic at the Mounting Systems Stadium.
The visitors had the first real chance of the game through Harrison Sheppeard; however, Bailey Thompson was unable to pounce on the cross.
Despite Bridlington being under pressure, it was Ahmed Salam who opened the scoring with a screamer. Ben Farrar played a sublime pass to Salam, who, from 25 yards out, hit a thunderous shot into the top-left corner, leaving the keeper with little chance.
Moments later, Salam’s opener was cancelled out as Emley responded. A superb run from Gabriel Johnson saw him muscle off Tom Allan before crossing to Chris Dawson, who volleyed home from close range, leaving the Seasiders’ goalkeeper stranded.
Thompson then put Emley into the lead for the first time, as he was sent through on goal and calmly slotted a neat shot into the bottom corner.
Just on the cusp of half-time, Emley almost extended their lead. A corner was fired to the back post; however, Thompson was unable to apply the finishing touch, marking the final kick of the half.
Just five minutes into the second half, the Seasiders equalised. A through ball from Salam found Farrar, who played another clever pass to Eddie Kettlewell, allowing him to slot home into the bottom corner.
Kettlewell almost put the Seasiders back into the lead after a long through ball from Allan; however, the keeper was equal to it and denied him his brace.
Destiny Nnenanya came close to restoring the lead with a shot from the edge of the box, but his effort ricocheted off the crossbar. The ball fell to Riley Cooper, whose follow-up was cleared by Sheppeard for a corner.
As the game entered the closing stages, the Seasiders thought they had claimed the winner. Salam delivered a cross to Jake Day, who found the net from close range; however, the linesman ruled him offside.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Emley nearly had the final say. Laurence Sorhaindo was through on goal, but his effort hit the side netting and went out for a corner. An entertaining match ended with the points shared.
Scott Kerr said after the match: “I’m over the moon. Emley are second in the league, 28 points clear of us. I said to the lads at the start of the game, ‘I believe in you.’ They’re a good side with good players, but I thought from one to 16 my lads were phenomenal. Their coach said to me at full-time, ‘You’re unlucky, you deserved more than a point,’ and that says everything. We hit the post, we hit the bar, the keeper made saves, and we had a disallowed goal in the last minute — but I’m proud of them.”
“I think the only disappointing thing for us — and I want to be constructive — is that the goals we conceded were soft. I’ve said to them, if we want to be pushing for promotion, we’ve got to nip things in the bud and improve communication. I keep stressing it. I don’t want to focus on too many negatives because we were phenomenal.”
