Bridlington Spa sink Bridlington Town Reserves to move into HE Dean Cup final
Bridlington Spa’s defensive resilience ensured they booked their place in the Right Car East Riding County Football League HE Dean Cup final with a 2-1 victory over Bridlington Town Reserves at the Mounting Systems Stadium on Thursday.
The visitors had the first shot of the game, though he dragged it wide from the edge of the box, writes Ben Edwards.
Ryan Bemrose pulled the trigger for the first time for Town, as his shot was destined for the bottom left corner but it was deflected behind for a corner.
The opener nearly came from the corner, as Sam Flowerdew’s inswinger was headed goalwards at the back post by Ben Marshall. Dom Richardson then got his head on the ball, but it was scrambled clear.
Jake Lister then did well to turn his man and drive forward, but his powerful effort from 20 yards went over.
Spa came into their own halfway into the first half, as number 10 danced through multiple defenders, but his effort from 20 yards was tame and straight at Harry Connelly.
They opened the scoring after 25 minutes when a powerful free-kick hit the woodwork, and a man was on hand to head home.
Three minutes later it was Flowerdew’s turn to try his luck from a free-kick, though he fired over from 25 yards.
With five minutes of the first half remaining, the Seasiders had the ball in the back of the net as Joe Pratley’s deep free-kick was converted by Richardson, though it was judged to have hit his hand and was ruled out.
After going into the interval one goal ahead, Spa doubled their advantage 10 minutes into the second half with a superb strike from range.
Reserves then had a couple of chances, heading wide on two occasions, firstly from a corner before Lister’s effort was off target.
Richardson did well to bring the ball down inside the area. He lofted it to Flowerdew, though this time he headed it over.
The closing 20 minutes saw Spa put their body on the line, blocking everything that came their way.
Bemrose halved the deficit in the 90th minute with a good finish into the bottom right corner, but it was too little too late.
Jake Brown and Craig Webb were the scorers for Spa, who will face Goole United in the final after they roared to a 6-1 win against Brid Rovers Millau.