Bridlington Town 0-0 Steels

Stocksbridge Park Steels will be left ruing missed chances after drawing 0-0 with Bridlington Town.

The first half was not one the Northern Premier League are going to use as an advert for the league. The first shot on target went to Bridlington as Danny Earl went clear but his shot was saved at the near post by Mikey Roxburgh. Josh Nodder also tried an attempt after finding some space but he hit that over.

The major incident of the first half was not any chances or goals but actually an injury. Earl had already made his presence known but suffered a hamstring injury. He tried to keep on goal but eventually had to go off in a huge blow for the home side and it was the main thing fans were talking about going into the second half.

Early on in the second half, both sides had key chances which could have changed the game. Substitute Louis Beckett blared over from six yards out when the ball was headed down to him in the box. Then at the other end, Ben Partridge’s hard work got the ball to Nathaniel Crofts in the box but his shot was amazingly saved by James Hitchcock’s trailed leg.

Soon, Nodder’s shot would be saved and that’d lead to a corner for the Steels. It was whipped in by Sam Finlaw and no one is quite sure how it didn’t end up in the back of the net as Bridlington did their best by hacking it off the line on numerous occasions. No one understood how it didn’t end up in but in the end, the relegation threatened side were able to keep it out.

Stocksbridge continued to put on pressure but it was Hitchcock who proved to be the Bridlington hero on this occasion. Partridge was the latest to go free in the box by getting past his man but once again, the keeper was able to foil the forward.

Bridlington did have some threat at the other end though. Lewis Dennison had a shot that was well saved by Mikey Roxburgh before Andy Norfolk also got some space which was also saved by the Steels keeper. The closest was probably from Will Annan whose long range shot fizzed just over.

The last chance would go to Stocksbridge. The ball bounced in the Bridlington bounce and Reece Fielding allowed it to go around his body before volleying it goalwards. He was hoping for a repeat of his last minute heroics against Worksop Town but Hitchcock was equal to it again, making sure neither side would get a goal in this game.