Tadcaster Albion 2 - 1 Bridlington Town

John Deacey was in the dugout for the very first time after being unveiled as the new Tadcaster manager in the week and got off to the perfect start at the Global Stadium.

Harrison Davison-Hale returned to the starting eleven after injury had kept him out of the FA Trophy defeat against Runcorn replacing Ally Hughes.

The opening ten minutes made for an erratic start to the match but it was the visitors who, in the first minute, saw a golden opportunity pass them by, Lewis Dennison heading over from all of three yards.

Tad’s first sighting of goal came from a corner; Fraser Papprill, who also returned to the starting eleven, managed to head the ball back across the goal but the Bridlington keeper held at the second attempt.

Seven minutes in Brid took the lead - Davison-Hale was forced into a good save which he pushed to his left; Brett Agnew came in at the back post unopposed to fire in the rebound. 0-1

Less than 60 seconds later Taddy got the opportunity to level the game, some good football from Donald Chimalilo led to Eddie Church driving down the right, his cross struck an arm, and a penalty was awarded.

Romario Vieira obliged, side footing down the middle to draw the Brewers level. 1-1.

13 minutes in the visitors missed another clear chance, Leon Dawson found himself free on the penalty spot but his volley easily cleared the bar.

Just on 20 minutes Papprill was substituted after sustaining a pulled calf. Freddie Sass replaced him forcing a reshuffle in defence seeing Kieran Burton partner Kesi Omolokun at centre back.

After a fast start the game entered a bit of a lull; neither team could not really get a grip and control proceedings; opportunities were few and far between and those were not much more than half chances.

Just after the half hour mark Church won his header to flick on for Chimalilo who drove at his man and managed to get a strike at goal forcing the keeper to save with his legs - the best chance Tad created in the first half.

Bridlington finished the half slightly the better of the two teams. The two strikers, Agnew and Daniel Earl looked lively and posed an interesting battle for Omolokun and Burton.

Tad came out quickly in the second half; less than five minutes in Chimalilo flicked a header on for Church who ran goalwards and fired powerfully for the near post but James Hitchcock, however, managed to palm the effort over.

The next chance for Tadcaster came on the hour mark. Vieira and Des Amponsah worked the ball well on the right-hand side before Vieira found space in the box and curled a brilliant shot into the far corner to put the Brewers ahead. 2-1.

Like the first 45 minutes, the second half saw neither side really take the upper hand of the match. After fighting back from one down Taddy still could not quite take control of the game.

Chances were again rare. Amponsah almost created and scored a third for Tad with some brilliant skill to beat a defender but as it looked like the winger just had to pick his spot, the Bridlington defence managed to crowd him out and clear.

The last ten minutes saw the visitors throw caution to the wind, putting the Taddy back line under pressure. However, they held firm - Burton was immense, getting his head to everything and not shying away from the battle with the big striker, Agnew.

Very late on Bridlington sent their keeper up for a corner but Tad broke, led by Chimalilo, who drove forward before being hacked down, stopping a potential third with the keeper faltering behind the speedy winger.

A huge win for Tadcaster who toiled away and really had to work hard, digging in and showing good game management in the end to earn the victory.

Next up for the Brewers is an away trip to Pontefract Collieries next Saturday, kick off 3pm.

Davison-Hale, Vieira, Omolokun, Papprill (Sass), Burton, Roper, Russell, Basic, Amponsah (Crook), Church (Deacey), Chimalilo.

Subs not used: Hughes, Ejupi.

Report from Olly Wood – Photos Courtesy of Keith Handley