Bridlington Town boss Brett Agnew stays upbeat despite losing opener at Amateur

Brid were sunk by second-half goals from Roy Fogarty and Steven Crawford, but Agnew was encouraged by the visitors’ display despite the result.

He said: “I cannot fault the lads’ efforts as they played really well, their first goal came from a mistake from keeper James Hitchcock but he also pulled off three great saves.

“The second was a counterattack in injury-time as we were pushing for a draw.

“The margins between defeat and victory at this level are so fine, you need to take your chances and I was a bit disappointed we did not come away from the game with a point at least.

“Ellis Barkworth came off with a calf injury early on and will probably miss a few weeks now, which is a shame as he has played well at centre-back. But that means the likes of Benn Lewis, Harold Monkam and Jack Bulless will be fighting for a spot in defence our tough FA Cup game at Consett on Saturday,.”

Andy Norfolk will also be available for this weekend’s preliminary round match, but Declan Parker is still a week or so away from returning due to illness.

Agnew added: "Leon Dawson and Nathan Hotte both played well in defence on Tuesday, Lewis Denison also doing well after coming on to replace Ellis in the first half.

"They are always good games against Yorkshire Amateur, and they had already won 3-0 against Worksop on Saturday, Simon Ainge at centre-back for them is a big part of them being able to keep clean-sheets like that."