Bridlington v Clipstone match report

Toolstation Northern Counties East – Premier Division
Tuesday 23rd August 2016
At the Neil Hudgell Solicitors Stadium
Bridlington Town (0) 1
Sutton pen 66
Clipstone (0) 2
Nodder 68 76
Attendance: 114
Report by Jim McIntosh (@Realalerunner)

Away to Bridlington on a Tuesday night is never an easy game. It involved a 180 mile round journey for the Cobras and a number of players had work commitments preventing them leaving early enough for the game.

So Billy Fox only had 13 players at his disposal and faced another ‘backs to the wall’ scenario, similar to Tadcaster away last season. And just like Tadcaster, the Cobras came away with a memorable 2-1 victory.

Chris Coy made his full debut for the visitors on the left hand side whilst Martin Brissett was recalled to the starting line up. The latter was a handful all evening for the Bridlington defence with his aerial ability combined with energetic running.

The first half was very evenly matched as there was little between the two sides. Bridlington’s top scorer, Brett Agnew, tested Andy Francis with a 25 yard drive on 26 minutes but it was straight at the Clipstone ‘keeper who saved comfortably. Agnew limped off with an ankle injury four minutes later, the first sign that this might be a night when the Cobras’ luck was in.

The closest that the visitors came in the first period was on 32 minutes when Lee Whittington made progress down the left hand side and his shot cum cross flashed across the six yard box with none of his colleagues able to get a touch.
Half time 0-0

The Cobras had a great chance to open the scoring on the hour mark when Martin Brissett chased down a high ball and cut the ball back to George Milner who brought a fine save from Bridlington ‘keeper James Hitchcock. The rebound fell to Whittington but his shot was bravely blocked by a defender.

All the goals came in an action packed 11 minute period midway through the second half. The home side opened the scoring on 66 minutes with a Joel Sutton penalty after George Milner had committed a foul in the box. 1-0

The Cobras responded immediately and Milner redeemed himself when he did well on the right hand side and found Josh Nodder on the edge of the box who scored with a first time shot that gave Hitchcock no chance. 1-1

Nodder’s second goal was the sort of quality finish that is only rarely seen at this level. He picked up possession around 30 yards from goal in central midfield and, seeing Hitchcock slightly off his line, unleashed a left-footed screamer that almost broke the back of the net. 1-2

Bridlington continued to launch high balls towards the Clipstone box but found both Chris Salt and Joe Austin in fine form. The two centre backs were both man of the match nominations along with Martin Brissett but inevitably the award went to the player who has scored three goals in the Cobras’ last two games – Josh Nodder.

Full Time 1-2

Clipstone man of the match: Josh Nodder

After the game Cobras’ manager Billy Fox said: “It’s a brilliant win. To say that it’s a 180 mile round trip for us meaning most of us leaving work at 4-30pm so we had a scratch team. I’m glad to get the points, the fighting spirit that we showed is what happens in adversity when you only have 13 players, and you won’t see any better goals than the two that we scored tonight. Josh has got that in his locker, he’s seen the ‘keeper off his line and rammed it in the net from 30 yards. We kept Bridlington at bay through hard work and teamwork and limited them to hardly any opportunities”.