Bridlington Town Prepare For Historic FA Trophy Tie Against Macclesfield

A historic third-round FA Trophy appearance could be secured by Bridlington Town on Saturday as they host Macclesfield FC.

A historic third-round FA Trophy appearance awaits Bridlington Town this weekend as the HDM Energies Stadium prepares to host Macclesfield FC on Saturday.

The second-round stage of the competition will feature the Seasiders for the first time in 22 years. A victory will push the East Yorkshire side into the third round for the first time in the club's history.

Absolute determination has defined the squad's route to this landmark moment. A dramatic penalty shootout win against superior-tier Curzon Ashton secured their place in the second round, following a 3-0 local derby victory over Whitby Town and a gritty 3-2 win against Congleton Town.

Bridlington Town manager Scott Kerr said:

"Whitby we beat comfortably three nil and then Curzon Ashton's a massive one clearly a very good team and then I think since we beat them, they've won five on the bounce, and they've gone second in in league above.

So, yeah, I know,  a couple of massive wins to get to this to this stage. And like I say, it's hopefully, it's a great day for the club and the lads because some of these young lads may never get to play the against team like this again and some it may give them a little bit of a boost to try and kick on them, maybe get to these sort of levels."

Kerr thinks a false position in the league table currently masks the team's true quality. Multiple games in hand over league rivals have resulted from the ongoing cup run, temporarily impacting their standing.

Manager Scott Kerr said:

"The lads have done really well. Like I say the league position at the minute's probably false, because once you do have a good cup run, you end up with loads of games in hand. It's another one, we'll miss another game this week while everyone else in our league will play a game, so it's probably a false position at the minute.

But yeah, no, we're over the moon with the start of the season. We've got a very young team, like I say, we I think the average age is about 21. So I suppose the hardest thing with that when you've got a young squad is keeping consistency levels high.

So, on the whole we're over the moon with how the lads have done, and I think this would be the icing on the cake if we could manage to pull off a massive upset on Saturday and beat Macclesfield."

Extensive research into Macclesfield's recent performances will shape the team's tactics on Saturday. The opposition currently sit near the top of the National League North and have recently played matches against Scarborough, providing valuable scouting material.

Scott Kerr said:

"I've done my research like I always do about teams and let's not have no arguments about it., t hey're a very good side. I think with games in hand they can go top of the conference north.

We are definitely underdogs for this game but we'll be going out there, we'll set up a game plan of how we potentially can beat them. We've looked at a few games they've had with Scarborough this year. I've touched base with Jono Greening as well just to see what a few things that they might have that might help.

I know they played at Brid last year which I think they'll probably get a different view this year because I think the pitch is a lot better this year than it was last year, so that might actually suit them better to be honest."

A major upset remains entirely possible for the Bridlington side despite their underdog status. Macclesfield themselves proved the reality of giant-killings when they defeated Crystal Palace in a cup game last year.

Scott Kerr says on the day it's anyone's game:

"Absolutely. I say this all the time. I was fortunate to play for Scarborough against Chelsea, many moons ago, and we had a real good cup run back then where we knocked out three league football teams.

At the end of the day, it's ultimately 16 men against 16 men. Everyone's got two legs and one heart. So, for me, it's you've got to work hard, show good attitude and discipline, and anything's possible. With them beating Crystal Palace last year was a a massive result, so it just shows that is these things can happen."

A memorable occasion for Bridlington is expected this weekend. Club officials hope to bring as many people from the town and surrounding communities through the gates as possible to support the team's historic cup run.

Tickets for Saturday's 3pm kick off are available at https://bridtownafc.ktckts.com/event/brd2627hfatr2/macclesfield-