Bridlington Town are on their travels in the NPL East on Saturday.
Grantham Town is the next test for the Seasiders as they look to put an end to their ongoing losing streak.
The Gingerbreads struggled last campaign despite having been relegated from the Northern Premier League Premier Division. They finished 16th, just one place above the drop zone, with back-to-back relegations a threat all season.
In fact were it not for a 1-0 victory over Bridlington Town on the penultimate game, Grantham would have found themselves in a relegation playoff position.
As it happens, the Seasiders won the following game 1-0 against Stocksbridge Park Steels to ensure both teams will fight it out for another season in the Northern Premier League East Division.
The reverse fixture between Grantham and Bridlington ended in a 0-0 draw at Queensgate back in December.
On the topic of no goals, Grantham have failed to score in their last two fixtures, having drawn 0-0 with Ossett United. Their most recent game against Liversedge looked destined to have the same result, though an injury time goal meant it was a 1-0 home defeat for Paul Rawden’s side.
Nevertheless, it’s been a better start for Grantham, with 12 points from their opening 10 games placing them 13th as they go into their second of two consecutive home games.
For Bridlington Town, Grantham marks their third away game in a row, before they go into three back-to-back home fixtures. They will be looking to pick up, as a minimum, their first away point of the season having lost all seven games on the road in all competitions so far this season.
A positive result would also put an end to the Seasiders five-game losing streak, of which has seen them drop disappointingly into 19th place, of which is in the relegation, ahead only of Winterton Rangers.
There were positives to take out of Bridlington’s last game against league leaders Belper Town. They adopted an unfamiliar 5-3-2 formation, with the hope of making it difficult for Belper to break them down.
This was successful for the first half, as an ever-frustrated Belper side could only go into half time goalless, and could even have found themselves behind as Alex Markham put a good chance over at the back post.
However, a penalty and a goalkeeper error meant the Seasiders took no points back home to the east coast.
Manager Adrian Costello was absent from the Belper game, due to a prior engagement, and will return to the sidelines for the Grantham test.
This left Andy Norfolk to take the team against Belper, getting a hard-working performance out of the lads, whilst also getting a few minutes off the bench.
He started for Beverley Town the previous week, netting two goals as he looks to build his fitness back up following a hamstring layoff.
Matty Dixon, Benn Lewis and Alex Markham all made it through 90 minutes unhurt, having returned to the starting lineup from various different injuries and illnesses.
Ali Aydemir will also be back to face his former club. Having missed Belper due to work commitments and the trip to Sheffield FC the game prior due to suspension, he will be looking forward to getting back onto the pitch, hoping to back up the brace he scored in his last match against Cleethorpes Town.
Another player returning to play their previous club will be Jack Walters, with the former Grantham left-back rejoining Bridlington Town in the summer.
Gregg Smith will certainly be the player Bridlington Town need to be careful of, as the 33-year old, giant striker has netted seven times so far this season, although only three have come in the league.
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