Bridlington Town in Home Action on Saturday

Saturday, 26 August 2023 08:00

By Ben Edwards

Bridlington Town’s second home game of the season will see them welcome Liversedge to the Hudgell Solicitor Stadium on Saturday.

Kicking off at 3pm, the match promises to be yet another tough game for Adrian Costello’s side.

Despite some heroic defending from the back four, Bridlington Town couldn’t quite salvage anything from their last game on Wednesday night, losing 2-0 to a strong Stockton Town side, who reached last season’s Northern Premier League East Division play-off final.

One of the main positives to take from the Stockton trip is that returning signings Jack Walters and Pete Davidson made their first appearances of the season, albeit as substitutes, having struggled with hamstring injuries.

In his post-match interview, Costello said that the duo have both shaken off their injuries and so will be in the squad again on Saturday. With Max Ezard also set to return from suspension, there should be a close to full squad available.

The Seasiders are still in search of their first win of the season, having picked up one point - a 2-2 draw against Grimsby Borough. They therefore occupy 17th place at this early stage of the season, though it goes without saying there are still a plethora of points still to play for. It must be considered too that Bridlington Town’s opening month has consisted of very tough fixtures.

Liversedge have had a similarly disappointing start to the campaign, having lost both of their opening two games 3-0 at home to Cleethorpes Town and away to Stocksbridge Park Steels, respectively.

The Sedge then crashed out of the FA Cup at the Preliminary Round, losing 1-0 at home to newly-promoted Northern Premier League side North Ferriby.

However, they bounced back perfectly on Tuesday evening at home against Newton Aycliffe, winning that fixture 5-0.

There’s no doubt Saturday will be a tough game for the Seasiders, as Liversedge won the Northern Premier League East Division in Bridlington Town’s first season at that level in 2021/22. However, they came straight back down having finished 21st in the Premier Division.

During Liversedge’s title winning season, Bridlington Town picked up a couple of positive results against the Sedge. The match at Queensgate ended in a 2-2 draw, with the Seasiders leading from the 2nd minute all the way until the final minute of a questionable amount of injury time, where Joe Walton netted the equaliser.

In the reverse fixture, Lewis Dennison’s early goal was cancelled out by Benjamin Atkinson on the brink of half time, the game finishing 1-1.

Two draws against Liversedge previously will give Bridlington Town confidence that they can get something out of the game. If there’s one thing they’ve learned in their two seasons in the Northern Premier League, it’s that anyone can take points off anyone.

There will be another returning face to Queensgate on Saturday, as Liversedge announced the signing of Will Sutton a few weeks ago. The left back made 43 appearances for Bridlington Town last campaign.