Recap
The magic of the FA Cup was alive in Birtley’s Extra Preliminary Round tie against Bridlington Town as The Hoops came out on top in a five-goal thriller.
Matchday programme is available HERE.
It’s been 12 years since an FA Cup tie was staged in DH3. The Hoops qualified for the oldest competition in the world last season and we were awarded with a home draw against Pontefract Collieries. In an amazing turn of events, a summer monsoon caused the initial home fixture to be postponed. The Hoops travelling to Yorkshire the following Tuesday and fell to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the step four club.
Bridlington Town visited the Arrowmark this time round, and The Hoops were keen not to have a repeat of the game against Pontefract and came straight out the blocks on the front foot. New Hoops Hitman Nick Marley bagged his first goal in green and white from a deep cross to the back post where he was found towering over everyone. The Hoops didn’t stop there though, and continued to assert themselves in the first half. Bridlington however still had some chances and forced a few excellent saves from Alfie Gordon, who was alert as always.
Birtley extended their lead from a quality corner which found the head of Scott Heslop, who flicked the ball goalwards where it was turned in by Bridlington’s Pete Davidson. At this point The Hoops were in control. However, the first half still had more action to come. In the 43rd minute the Birtley back line switched off at a corner which allowed Alex Markham to head home. Three minutes later in injury time Bridlington broke through again with Freddie Allen finding the equaliser, undoing all the hard work from the home team.
Going into the second half, Bridlington had the first effort via Michael Coulson. However Birtley quickly took back control and were back on the front foot trying to find a third goal. There were some great chances created but neither team could find the back of the next for quite some time. Then in the 69th minute, Heslop leapt to the heavens at the back post from a brilliant Sam Hedley cross and he headed back across Owen Grainger in the Bridlington goal to put the Hoops back in the driving seat.
There were further chances for Birtley but they weren’t able to extend their lead as Bridlington created a few more chances themselves. Their best effort coming in injury time, with a quick turn in a crowded box from Michael Coulson to get a powerful snap-shot on target. Gordon in goal was not prepared to lose the lead and pulled off an excellent save in the dying seconds. The shock from the Bridlington bench that they hadn’t equalised told the story.
The Hoops came out on top. The lads received a well-deserved rapturous applause from the Birtley faithful in attendance.
Manager’s Corner
Reece Chapman had the following to say about the occasion: “Bridlington were a good side but I thought we were really good value for the win. We had a crazy five minute spell at the end of the first half where we conceded two but other than that I felt we were fantastic. We looked very dangerous at times, created some great opportunities and largely looked a lot more solid. It’s also great to have Nick and Hessy off the mark for the season, and the third goal we scored was a tremendous finish from Hessy.”
Matchday Sponsor – The Jewel in the Crown
Matchball Sponsor – AB Roofing Solutions
Our preview for Tuesday nights’ home game against Newcastle Benfield will follow shortly.
