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Wednesday 9th February 2005
Bishop Auckland 2 Bridlington Town 1
The long trek to County Durham brought scant reward for Billy Heath’s
troops, who were met by a side who played like men possessed to make a
mockery of their league position. Surely if they had played with similar
purpose in half of their games prior to this, then they would be at least
in
a mid-table position.
The home side, combined the slope with a quite shocking playing surface in
the first half to launch an aerial assault on the Town centre-backs. Pretty
is was not, but it worked as Town conceded a penalty in 11th minute, which
Dan Newby blasted past Nick Baxter. The Bishops’ winger looked to have
increased his side’s tally minutes latwer but saw a close-range effort
wiped
out for offside.
Town were struggling to make any impact against a fast and aggressive home
side, but were unlucky on 25 minutes as a Steve Heath header scraped the bar
with ‘keeper John Mohan beaten. With half-time approaching, Town looked
to
have kept the home side in their sights but were undone by a defensive error
on 42 minutes which allowed Rich Starr to ghost in at the far post to loop
a
header over Baxter for Bishops’ second.
Town looked to be more motivated in the second period, and began to get
among a previously solid home midfield at last. Paul Wilson became a
constant threat on the left flank, and Wayne Wallace enjoyed a more
profitable 45 minutes, the fans warming to his surging runs at the heart of
the home defence. Both Town strikers, Ben Eastwood and Paul Palmer, saw
close range efforts blocked, as Town forced a succession of corners on the
hour.
The home side proved they were still a threat on the counter, as Starr
brought a fine diving stop from Baxter on 67 minutes, before Town grabbed
their lifeline on 72 minutes. Full-back Chris Hyam delivered a perfect far
post cross for skipper Lee Harper to bury a header back across Mohan into
the corner. Town laid siege to the home goal in search of the point, or all
three, as Eastwood again went close, and Wilson sent an angled drive
agonisingly past the post.
Injury time had mounted during the second period, and the referee indicated
6 minutes of added time. Both sides adopted all-out attack as the best form
of defence and chances came at both ends in a see-saw ending to the game,
but it was Bishops who held out for the final whistle to send Town home
empty-handed. .