Bridlington Look for First Win of the Year in Seaside Derby

Bridlington Town will play host to fellow seasiders Cleethorpes Town this afternoon.

After back-to-back losses to kick off 2023, reverting back to the 4-2-3-1 formation that players and supporters were so familiar with at the start of the season seemed to do the trick for gaffer Mike Thomspon - who unsuccessfully experimented with a few different systems in recent weeks.

Against all the odds, his side battled incredibly hard to draw 2-2 against league-leaders Worksop Town, who sit 14 points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand.

To put things into perspective, the last time they dropped points was all the way back in August, against Bridlington Town again in a 2-2 draw.

The only other time they have dropped points was a 2-1 opening day defeat to Stockton Town, a sensational yet deserved result, in which saw us become the first team not to lose at The Windsor Foodservice Stadium all season.

It could have been even better for Bridlington Town, as a wonder goal from Andy Norfolk and a well finished counter attack from Ali Aydemir put them 2-1 up going into injury time. However, a 95th minute scrappy goal from Josh Wilde ensured the points were shared.

Despite such a positive performance, the draw did mean that Bridlington dropped one position into 14th, as they were leapfrogged by Long Eaton United, who beat Bridington’s next opponents.

This means Bridlington Town now go into the next game looking for their first three points of the year. If they play like they did in the last game, they will have a great chance but it won’t be easy.

After finishing third and losing in the playoff semi-final 2-1 to Stockton Town last campaign, Cleethorpes Town are having a similarly strong season. They sit in fifth position on 35 points, two points clear of Dunston although Cleethorpes have played a game more.

However, results of late have been disappointing for the Owls. As aforementioned, they were defeated in their last game away to Long Eaton United, conceding three goals without reply against a team below them in the table.

They have only won one of their last seven games, dating back to 19th November. That victory was against Tadcaster Albion at home, who still sit bottom of the table and are winless this season, and finished 2-1.

Whilst the hosts have a full week to prepare and recover, Cleethorpes have a second of three consecutive away games on Tuesday evening, when they make the long trip up north to Consett AFC.

A few familiar faces will be amongst both camps on Saturday. For Cleethorpes, left-back Leon Dawson joined the visitors from Bridlington Town back in December 2021.

Similarly, Will Annan made the switch from Bridlington to Cleethorpes, and is their joint third highest scorer with four goals so far, though he did not feature in their last game.

Shot stopper Tom Jackson has also played for both clubs, but made the switch to Belper Town a few days ago as Cleethorpes brought in former Grimsby Town goalkeeper James McKeown.

All three of the above players started in the previous outing between the two sides, which ended in a narrow 1-0 victory to Cleethorpes at the MyEnergi Stadium, thanks to an 88th minute Paul Walker header.

Centre-back James Williamson was an unused substitute for that game, and opted to join Bridlington Town less than a month later due to an injury to former club captain Matty Plummer.

With Plummer later leaving the club, Williamson has played 90 minutes of every game since joining the club in a centre-back pairing with Jack Bulless.

Since the game back in September, there has been a change in gaffer for Cleethorpes Town, with Nathan Arnold taking over Dave Smith as first-team manager, who is now managing Brigg Town.

Cleethorpes top scorer is Declan Howe who has netted 15 times this campaign. His 13 league goals makes him the third most prolific man in the league, though he came off the bench in the last game and was not in the squad for the two games prior to that.

It has been confirmed that Under 12s will go free at home games for the remainder of the season, so it would be great to see plenty of juniors give the lads a deserved backing on Saturday, and for the rest of the campaign.