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Saturday 8th April 2006
Colwyn Bay 1 Bridlington Town 3
A fabulous victory for Pete Smurthwaite’s young Town side, who made
light of
the marathon coast-to-coast trek into Wales to play the promotion chasing
‘Bay outfit off the park. Town lost their focus just once throughout
the
90 minutes to allow the home side a soft goal in the opening minutes, but
once the seasiders had established their rhythm, there was only going to be
one winner, and a beaming Town manager rightly described his side’s
performance as ‘marvellous’.
The game was barely 3 minutes old as Town conceded a free-kick just inside
their own half, and the ball was delivered to the far post. Darren Wright
had ghosted in behind the defence and was left with a simple side-foot from
six yards to give Bay the lead. Roared on by the travelling support, Town
came straight back at the Welsh side, and on 11 minutes a brilliant 5-man
move that swept the ball from defence into attack saw Ben Eastwood crash
home the equaliser from close range. The home side were struggling to
contain the livewire figure of Town winger Danny Buttle, as time and again
his pace and trickery caused problems for the defence. He was unlucky to
see a skidding 25-yard effort flash narrowly wide on 35 minutes as Town
poured on the pressure. Town ‘keeper Gavin Kelly had to be alert to produce
a smart save from Bay midfielder Jamie Haynes in a rare home raid, but Town
finished the half well on top, with Craig Suddaby rattling the ‘Bay crossbar
with a thundering header on the stroke of half-time.
Town’s dominance in the game continued unabated in the second half,
as
wideman Anthony Bowsley began to pass the home side to death with a string
of pinpoint through balls. Town went close through a 20-yard Shaun Baker
effort before taking a deserved lead on 67 minutes. The towering figure of
Wayne Wallace was again at the hub of the move as he released Buttle, whose
slide-rule pass found striker Ali Benson, and the Town hitman gave ‘keeper
Ian Havard no chance with a cracking strike from the edge of the area.
Smurthwaite’s inspired substitution on 71 minutes won the game for Town,
as
Buttle, who had run himself into the ground on the left flank, was replaced
by Gary Wardell. The young winger got among the increasingly pedestrian Bay
defence straight away, and on 80 minutes, his perfectly angled through ball
from the wing set Wallace free on the edge of the area, the Town midfielder
going clear to slide the ball under Havard for Town’s third. Bay were
unable to find a way through a superbly marshalled Town defence in the
closing stages, and the Seasiders ran out worthy winners.
A tremendous result for the new-look Town side, who will now travel to
second-placed Kendal on Good Friday in good shape, and looking to reverse
the home defeat suffered earlier on this season. They return to Queensgate
after what seems an age away from home on Easter Monday against a struggling
Bishop Auckland outfit, and on this performance, could yet have a say in the
top six placings. Town looked solid in every area of the pitch, with
full-back Steve Robinson making a welcome, and faultless, return as a
one-off replacement for Martin Ramsay, who will resume duties after work
commitments next week. With meetings on the future direction of the club
being held this week, Town fans will hope for a positive outcome, as it
would appear that on the pitch , the future appears very bright indeed.