Bridlington Town hope to make winning return to action at Hebburn

Nick Hutton, pictured in action for Scarborough Athletic last season, was set to make his debut against Cleethorpes last weekend.

Mike Thompson’s Brid outfit were looking to build on a heroic 2-2 draw with top-of-the-table Worksop Town, though they were forced to wait another week as the fixture against Cleethorpes was frozen off, writes Ben Edwards.

The Worksop game saw them pick up their first point of 2023, having kicked off the year with back-to-back defeats, though they came so close to winning the game. The Seasiders were ahead twice in the game, but a dramatic 95th minute equaliser from Josh Wilde sent Brid home with a point.

Nevertheless, Town are the only team to take points off the Tigers at home this season, ending a 11-game winning home run for Worksop, who last dropped points back in August, again at the hands of the Seasiders.

With Worksop hammering Long Eaton 7-1 on Saturday, it shows just how strong a side they are and how brilliant earning a point against them was.

Similar to Cleethorpes, Hebburn sit comfortably in a play-off position, with Brid tasked with the tough objective of ending a four game winning streak against the fourth-placed opposition.

That said, Thompson claims his side will be a match for any team in the division if they show the same levels of desire and quality as they did against Worksop.

Only two games took place in the NPL East Division on Saturday, and Hebburn Town at Shildon was not one of them, as a frozen pitch also saw that game called off. As a result, the Hornets’ last fixture ended in a 2-0 victory against 10-man Stockton, who are second in the division, thanks to two goals inside the first 20 minutes.

Brid are 14 points worse off than Hebburn and have played one more than Saturday’s opponents. Sitting in 14th, the visitors will go into the game as underdogs.

The reverse fixture back in December saw Brid go ahead four minutes before half-time, Lewis Dennison netting on his return to the starting lineup from injury.

However, a goal from Olly Martin four minutes after the break preceded Joe Walton’s winner to take three points back to Tyneside.