Match Report: Bridlington Town (A)
On a sunny afternoon in East Yorkshire. It was the hosts who had the first chance of the game, when a goal bound header was scrambled off the line by the Dunston back line and pumped clear of danger.
Dunston themselves almost had the breakthrough on 15 minutes, when an inswinging cross from Jon Shaw was met by Richard Coulson, only for James Hitchcock to save well in the Bridlington net.
Dunston continued to grow into the game, with Craig Baxter forcing a corner with a deflected effort and Michael Fowler dragging an effort just wide from a sharp angle.
Dan Staples was looking sharp at the other end on his first competitive start for the club, and saved well when Norfolk took aim for the hosts. It wasn’t the most action packed half, but both sides would go into the break pleased to not be behind.
Dunston started the second half the better and had the breakthrough they craved on 55 minutes. Ursene Mouanda picked out the on loan Will Jenkins, who raced through and cooly slotted past Hitchcock.
Brid rallied following the goal, with both Sutton and Bulless going close, and Dan Staples making some smart saves to keep Dunston’s lead in tact.
Despite this, it was Chris Swailes’ side who were able to grab the vital second goal and double their lead. Some neat interplay around the edge of the box found Mouanda, who was able to square to an unmarked Jack Elliott who slid the ball home to send the travelling Dunston barmy army into raptures.
The Brid fans finally had something to cheer midway through the half when Dunston’s photographer took a dive off his stool following a Liam Thear blocked cross. 10/10 for the theatrics and probably should have been carded for the moves. Cynical game management from the man in the hat but never the less killed 15 seconds of the game as Dunston tried to see out the match. More social media content to follow, don’t you al worry.
Brid still searched for a way back into the game, but Staples continued to be equal to everything, stopping Bradley at his near post from halting the deficit.
With the Dunston backline standing tall, Sadó Djaló put the game to bed, latching onto a cross field ball from Elliott to score past Hitchcock to wrap up the victory- a dominant second half display and into the hat for Monday afternoon’s draw.