Brid Look Back on Thommo's First Seven Months

We look back on Brid Town's first half of the season under manager Mike Thompson.

Bridlington Town concluded a relegation-threatened first season in the Northern Premier League East Division with a home game against Dunston. They needed to win to survive the drop, and did so in dramatic fashion when Lewis Dennison showed immense composure to slot the ball into the top right corner from the penalty spot in the 90th minute.

Player-manager Brett Agnew and Joe Lamplough had already announced that the Dunston game would be their final one at Bridlington Town, and as such chairman Peter Smurthwaite had to hunt for a new gaffer.

He appointed Mike Thompson on 12th May from Beverley Town. The former left-back retired at the club and joined Agnew on the coaching team, before leaving to join Beverley Town, who he got promoted to the Northern Counties Eatern League.

Thompson welcomed Adrian Costello as assistant manager, who has a wealth of experience and managed Hull City Ladies last campaign. He also brought goalkeeper coach Ron Milam with him from Beverley Town.

With key players such as captain Pete Davidson, vice captain Nathan Hotte and fans favourite Danny Earl all leaving the club, it was up to the new manager to rebuild a new squad.

His first port of call was to ensure that 2021/22 Player of the Season James Hitchcock remained at the club. The shot-stopper has been at the club since 2014 and looks to improve further under Milam’s coaching.

Benn Lewis, Andy Norfolk, Jack Bulless, who have all been long servants to the club, were also retained alongside last season’s hero Dennison. The experienced Matty Plummer, who joined the club towards the end of the last campaign, signed on and was announced club captain. Midfielder Eddie Rogerson was the final retained player.

Onto the new signings, the first of which was Ali Aydemir. The winger possesses electric pace Grantham Town, where he was a regular starter in the Northern Premier League.

Jack Griffin was another addition to the club, as Thompson brought him with him from Beverley Town for his second spell at the club. 

Other new signings included Will Taylor, Noah Stokes, Jack Yates and Harry Webster. Estonian goalkeeper Rasmus Kriisa was also brought into the squad to push Hitchcock for the starting place in goal.

This led Thompson into his first pre-season game, the David Holland Memorial Match against Scarborough Athletic. The game proved to be a promising start to a good pre-season for Bridlington Town, as they came from behind twice to draw 2-2. 

After impressing as a trialist against Scarborough, left-back Will Sutton signed for the club. He was Player of the Season for Winterton Rangers last campaign and has proved to be a fans favourite so far this season.

Two games in three days saw them beat North Ferriby away from home before drawing 1-1 with Hallam FC. Winger Matt Broadley, who has previously played for the club, featured as a trialist in both games before signing on permanently.

Broadley then came off the bench in our next friendly against Newcastle Benfield, netting the opener just minutes after coming on in what proved to be a convincing 3-0 win.

A draw away to Maltby Main preceded our first and only defeat of pre-season, as we were beaten 4-2 by Hull City Under 23s. 

Before the game, two more signings were announced in striker Jake Martindale and goalkeeper Ben Crosher. The signing of a third goalkeeper allowed Rasmus Kriisa to go out on loan to St Mary’s before joining Beverley Town on loan. He has since left the club.

With pre-season done and dusted, Thompson’s first competitive game in charge was an FA Cup Preliminary Round fixture against Whitley Bay. 

The key talking point was Broadley being left out of the squad due to a registration issue out of the club’s control. Jack Yates started in his place, and took his chance with both hands. He put in a man-of-the-match display, scoring in his side's 3-1 victory.

The Seasiders faced Dunston in the next round two weeks later, but were dumped out of the cup after a heavy 3-0 defeat.

Bridlington Town’s first league game against Long Eaton United saw an unchanged starting 11, with Broadley making the bench. They drew 1-1 as Dennison's early header was cancelled out in the second half.

They followed this up with an excellent performance on the road, with Aydemir’s stunning hattrick earning the team a 3-1 win, despite being reduced to 10 men when Griffin was sent off for a strong challenge in the first half. This meant that Bridlington Town would be without their midfielder for the next three games. 

Though looking competitive, inconsistency was the major problem for Thompson’s team. A long northerly trip to Shildon ended in an abysmal 6-0 battering, seeing us hand Shildon their first win of the season. 

However, this was preceded by an excellent 2-2 draw against a very strong Worksop side. With Dennison - who earned August’s Player of the Month -  and Aydemir both scoring regularly, things were looking good.

September kicked off with a home game against Ossett United. Bridlington announced the signing of striker Joe Norton, who was prolific for Thompson at Beverley Town last campaign. 

Bridlington Town found themselves 2-0 after just 10 minutes in that game, but showed great character to come back and draw the game 2-2.

The FA Trophy was up next when Colne FC came to visit Queensgate. Despite a late goal from Aydemir, Town couldn’t find an equaliser and suffered a 2-1 loss, crashing out of the competition.

With lots of home games coming at the start of the season, Cleethorpes at the end of September was only our 3rd away game of the season. 

There were many familiar faces in the opposition team that evening, where we suffered late heartbreak, losing 1-0 despite a good performance - with Cleethorpes netting from an 88th minute corner. 

The disappointing news from that game was two injuries to two strikers. Dennison limped off at half time after a collision which saw him sidelined for three months. Norton also picked up an injury in that game, which kept him out until the end of October.

With the recent injury news, and Aydemir’s goals drying up, the Bridlington faithfull went into August wondering where the goals would come from. The month kicked off with another away game, with us travelling to Sheffield FC. Two further signings were announced prior to the game. 

Matty Dixon, who impressed the fans as a consistent performer at right-back last season, rejoined the club - though he has featured heavily in midfield this campaign due to Benn Lewis’ impressive performances.

Danny Finch also signed from Beverley Town, though he has found game time limited after starting his first two games for the club. 

The game finished 1-1, with Jack Griffin’s excellent free kick cancelling out an early goal for the hosts.

Bridlington Town then began to earn their reputation for causing late drama. Their home game against Brighouse Town saw Andy Norfolk strike in the 91st minute to win the game 1-0 against an opposition reduced to 10 men.

An away trip against high-flyers Consett looked as though it could be a tricky game, however we fought brilliantly and won the match 3-2, picking up our 2nd victory on the road and seeing us rise as high as fourth. New signing Ryan Caulfield made his debut off the bench for this game.

With skipper Plummer hobbling off injured that game, Thompson took action and signed another central defender in James Williamson, who returned to the club from Cleethorpes Town. 

He started against league-leading Stockton Town, in a game we lost 4-0, with Plummer an unused sub. This then saw the skipper depart for Beverley Town, and Jack Griffin appointed club captain.

We then suffered another heavy defeat, being dominated at home against Pontefract Collieries, losing 5-0. With 9 goals shipped and none scored in the past two games, things were looking worrying.

A long trip to Newcastle started November, as we faced playoff-pushing Dunston. The hosts netted early but Joe Norton made his comeback from injury to score off the equaliser in the 89th minute.

More late drama followed in the next game, when Jack Yates scored a 93rd minute winner in our 2-1 defeat against North Shields.

A break from league action came when we faced Thompson’s former side Beverley Town in the East Riding Senior Cup. A poor performance saw us 3-1 down with 15 minutes to go, but Martindale came off the bench to net his first two goals for the club. 

The second goal came in the 90th minute - a third consecutive game with us firing late. We then won the penalty shootout 5-4, with Caulfield netting the winning penalty having struggled to make the squad in previous weeks.

This earned Caulfield a first start for the club against Stocksbridge Park Steels, though he looked promising, we lost the game 3-0. Griffin hobbled off injured and Bulless was sent off in a horrible afternoon for the club.

With the side struck with injuries and suspensions, we were forced to name a makeshift side against strugglers Grantham Town, though we earned a 0-0 draw at home. The positive of the game being Dennison returning from injury to play half-an-hour off the bench.

Dennison then started our next game against Hebburn Town, and scored a first half header, though we ended up losing the game 2-1. 

This proved to be the only game we have been able to play so far in December, as our trips to Long Eaton and Carlton have been postponed due to frozen pitches. As a result, we will sit in 12th position on Christmas Day.

We look forward now to a Boxing Day tie at Queensgate against Tadcaster Albion, who are the only team we are yet to face in the league this season.