Mike Thompson kicks off second spell in charge of Bridlington Town with superb 4-2 comeback win at home to Bishop Auckland

Like in the reverse fixture, Town had to come from behind to claim all three points, writes Ben Edwards.

After the game, Thompson said: "Work rate, application, buy in - I'm over the moon because they've done everything we've expected of them, and they've really, really drilled themselves into the ground for 90 minutes."

It was a cagey opening 15 minutes, with neither side able to create any noteworthy chances. The first came when Danny Earl nicked the ball off a Bishop defender and squared the ball to Sam Kay, whose close-range effort was remarkably saved. Two minutes later, a counter-attack from the visitors saw Jack Blackford force Sebastian Malkowski into a good save to his right.

Earl looked a threat all night, constantly driving at the Bishop Auckland defence, but couldn’t quite master that final ball as more often than not, his crosses were put behind for corners.

However, it was Bishop who took the lead after 33 minutes. Michael Coulson almost headed the Seasiders into the lead from a corner, but the visitors’ resulting counter-attack saw Louis Johnson’s effort helped into the back of the net by a Brid defender.

The hosts looked for an immediate response, but long-range efforts from Earl and Coulson were unsuccessful, and the Seasiders went into the interval a goal down.

Within 30 seconds of the restart, Coulson almost found the equaliser, but struck the near post and the ball went behind for a goal-kick.

Nathan Dyer then saw his shot saved by the feet of Jack Norton, though the leveller did come just moments later in the 52nd minute. The ball reached Sam Kay at the back post, who took his time and shot at goal, with the ball deflecting off a defender and nestling into the bottom left corner.

It took just three minutes for Bishop Auckland to regain the advantage, as Tom Allan’s pass to Charlie Winfield was intercepted by Dan Burlace. He charged towards goal, and his reasonably weak shot creeped under Malkowski.

That being said, it took just a further three minutes for Brid to respond. A corner from the right was met by a superb Earl header, who glanced the ball into the left side of the goal.

After three goals in six minutes, the game calmed down for the next 10 minutes, before Winfield won a free-kick from range, after being pulled back. Ahmed Salam took the set-piece, which was dipping and palmed away by Norton.

The resulting corner was initially cleared, but Dan Hartley recycled the ball, and Allan rose highest, producing an outstanding header into the top right corner, putting Town ahead for the first time.

An Earl shot then deflected off a defender, back onto him and then straight into the arms of Norton. Malkowski was then forced into an excellent save one-on-one from Bishop Auckland’s counter-attack. It would be Brid who would net once more, though, with Coulson’s sweeping shot from close range beating Norton.

Malkowski was immediately called into action again, pulling off a double save to ensure Brid kept their two-goal lead. With four minutes remaining, sub Pete Davidson did well to turn his man and play a perfect reverse ball to Coulson, whose shot was saved at the near post.