Report

After 2 successive wins, it was a bad day at the office for the Stan as this 6-pointer ended up in a defeat against clinical Bridlington Town when, partly because of other results the Stan could have gone 3 points clear of the relegation zone & jumped above 3 other teams in the league. There were 2 changes from last week’s 3-1 win at Ossett with Slaughter & Hopper replacing Marriott & Errington.

On Non-League Day, both teams started out trying to attack. The 1^st clear effort came for Bridlington in the 5^th minute although Brass easily caught. Hall in the Bridlington goal then caught a Walker effort from a corner. In the 8^th minute, Turnbull & Evans both had to clear after a Bridlington free kick. A minute later & Bridlington shot over the Stan bar followed by a Stan free kick being cleared. In the 12^th minute, the visitors were in the lead when, from a corner, Evans headed the ball clear but it went back in & Coulson got his head to it to put the ball into the net. After a quieter period, the Stan were back level in the 18^th minute when Burn sent a ball through the Bridlington defence to the advancing Adamson who then was in on Hall & he confidently slotted the ball post him for his 1^st league goal & his 2^nd in 2 games. Both teams knew the game was still there to win & in 24 minutes Walker shot just over. Slaughter & Shepherd then both had to clear. The Stan then had an attack partially cleared but the ball went back into the visitors’ box & Capewell’s header was blocked. Bridlington countered but the move was stopped on the edge of the Stan box by Turnbull. Soon after, Turnbull had to block again. Almost immediately, in the 28^th minute, Capewell cleared in the busy 6-yard box but the ball went out to Coulson who blasted it through the body of players & into the Stan net for 1-2. Both teams still tried to attack & in 35 minutes a ball across the Stan goal was missed by everyone. Bridlington then won a corner from which Evans headed clear, but the ball went back in & was cleared after a scramble. In the 40^th minute, Walker shot wide through a crowd of players. Both teams finished the half trying to attack but Bridlington had more of the ball in the 1^st half overall as well as a 1 goal lead at half time.

The Stan started the 2^nd half with an attack being cleared but things went from bad to worse in the 47^th minute. A high ball into the Stan box was eventually cleared but Bridlington sent the ball back in & Evans tackled a player on the bye line & a penalty was awarded. Coulson got his hat-trick in the 48^th minute when he converted the penalty. 3 minutes later & Shepherd cleared the ball from a Bridlington corner although the Stan counterattack was stopped. In 56 minutes, a Bridlington long range effort went wide. There was then some Stan pressure, but they took a while to get the ball into the Bridlington box & the move ended after Turnbull’s cross resulted in Adamson’s effort going just wide. In the 59^th minute there was a triple substitution for the Stan. In the 64^th minute there was some pressure from the Stan when sub Lamb was in on Hall & forced a throw in. The Stan were now getting more of the ball but with no clear end product until a Capewell effort went wide in the 70^th minute. In 73 minutes, Slaughter’s corner was headed clear & Lamb’s long range rebound effort was blocked. The ball went back out to Lamb who shot again but Hall caught the ball. The Stan pressure continued & a great diagonal ball by Turnbull was collected by Lamb but he was deemed to be offside. In 76 minutes, a long ball from Brass saw both Adamson & Lamb blocked. Bridlington then had their 1^st attack for a while which resulted in a corner. From it, a long ball allowed Lamb to counter, but he lost the ball under pressure. After some more Stan pressure, Bridlington attacked twice in the 81^st minute with the 2^nd one involving the ball going across the Stan goal but it was missed by everyone. The Stan then attacked & Lamb was brought down although the resulting free kick came to nothing. In 85 minutes, Evans cleared from 2 Bridlington corners. In 88 minutes, it was 4-1 to Bridlington when a free kick into the Stan box was headed into the net at the back post by Allan. Sub Errington then had an effort cleared as the match entered 5 minutes of added time. He then headed well wide followed by Hall easily catching the ball. The match ended with a ball from a Stan corner being cleared.

This poor performance by the Stan, including few clear chances created, & no points means that they drop into the relegation zone & are 2 points from safety. There is still everything to play for though with 6 games to go starting with the trip next Saturday to Grimsby Borough.

Kevin Mochrie

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