Bridlington Town progressed to the next round of the FA Trophy after surviving a late Garforth Town comeback and holding their nerve in a tense penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw.
Bridlington got off to the perfect start thanks to a moment of magic from set-piece distance. A push on Billy Marshall earnt Bridlington a free kick right on the edge of the box and Ben Tweed stepped up to curl a stunning right-footed effort directly into the top-left corner to give Bridlington an early 1-0 lead.
Bridlington managed the tempo for much of the opening period before Garforth gradually built momentum and took control of the last 10 minutes or so of the half. In the 43rd minute, Garforth thought they had found their equaliser when the ball hit the back of the net, but the assistant referee’s flag went straight up for offside.
Garforth came out quickly in the second half, and in the 48th minute, a dangerous corner dropped dead into a crowded box. After a bit of a goalmouth scramble, the ball was poked into the back of the net to level the game.
Bridlington came back strong after the equaliser and nearly restored their lead in the 50th minute. The ball broke through to Toby Marriott down the wing, who drove deep and cut the ball back into the penalty area, but the ball was played just behind the supporting runs.
Garforth threatened in the 52nd minute with a curling strike toward the top-right corner, but Tom Allan produced a vital defensive play by deflecting the header wide.
Bridlington stepped up their attack in the 59th minute as Luca Bolino drove into the box, beat his marker, and saw his low shot blocked out for a corner. The resulting corner flew past everyone, but Ahmed Salam recovered the loose ball on the wing and laid it back to
Bolino. Bolino attempted to whip a cross back into the danger zone, But the cross struck the arm of the Garforth man attempting to block the cross.
A moment of thought by the referee and he pointed to the spot. Salam stepped up coolly converted the penalty to make it 2-1 to Bridlington.
Garforth pushed hard for a way back and finally broke through in the 85th minute. A long throw-in into the penalty area was not dealt with by the Bridlington defense, and the sides were locked in again 2-2.
With no further goals before the final whistle, the tie went straight to a penalty shootout, where Bridlington held their composure to secure safe passage into the next round of the FA Trophy winning 4-5 on penalties after 6 attempts each.
Assistant Brid boss Mark Hotte spoke to Brid Town TV at full-time:
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