Brid Town forced to settle a hard-earn earned point at Pontefract

The Seasiders started brightly and looked dangerous from the outset. Inside five minutes, Destiny Nnenanya had the first sight of goal, flashing an early effort just wide. Ponte responded with a couple of half-chances of their own, but Alex Baird was alert when called upon.

The breakthrough arrived on 13 minutes. Tom Allan drove a low, direct ball into Nnenanya, who held off his marker before laying it perfectly into the path of Michael Coulson. The forward made no mistake, guiding a composed finish into the far corner to give Brid the lead.

Bridlington continued to press and doubled their advantage midway through the half. A loose pass in the Collieries defence was seized upon by Nnenanya, who showed great composure to slot calmly into the bottom corner and make it 2-0.

The hosts looked to respond before the break and eventually found a route back into the contest in stoppage time. A corner was delivered into the box and headed home by Ben Middleton to reduce the deficit just before half-time.

The second half proved far more frantic. The Seasiders carried a threat on the counter, with Nnenanya repeatedly stretching the Pontefract back line. He was denied by a strong save after racing through from a flick-on from Jake Day, while appeals for a foul on the edge of the box involving Olly Green were waved away.

Ponte began to build momentum and found their equaliser on 74 minutes through Joe Lumsden. A cross into the area was headed back across goal and converted at the far post to level the scores.

The closing stages were end-to-end. Nnenanya again came close after meeting a knockdown inside the area, but his ball across goal found no finishing touch.

Nnenanya found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper once again, racing clear as the recovering defenders scrambled back. Just as he shaped to place his finish past the keeper from six yards, his striking foot appeared to be clipped, but the referee waved away the appeals, much to the disbelief of the travelling fans.

At the other end, Pontefract pushed hard for a winner themselves with multiple efforts blocked and cleared away by a resilient Bridlington defence.

Deep into stoppage-time, Bridlington were rescued by a moment of brilliance from Alex Baird. The goalkeeper produced a superb flying save in the 95th minute to preserve the point, moments before the referee brought proceedings to a close.

Bridlington will feel they had opportunities to secure all three points after establishing a two-goal lead, but a resilient defensive effort and a crucial late save ensured they left with a deserved share of the spoils.