Boro 0 Brid Town 2

 

Scarborough Athletic froze at a chilly Queensgate last night, as landlords Bridlington Town shoved them out of the promotion race.

 

Boro struggled to shake off their rust at Hallam in the 4-1 defeat on Saturday, and it was a similar story in the Bridlington snow, as they completely seized up as an attacking force.

 

Boss Brian France was boosted by the return of skipper Graham Botham on the left, and Joel Hartley was allowed leave from work to play on the right, though neither were effective, as a lack of cohesion and flowing football left them out of much of the play.

 

Striker Danny Gray was unlucky not to mark his first appearance in a number of months with a goal, but his drive after coming from the bench in the dying embers was tipped to safety.

 

By that time it was far too little too late for Boro, and had it not been for the heroics of keeper Arran Reid, it could have been much, much worse.

 

Due to the absence of defenders Carl Wood and Dave Kemp, Boro started the game with three at the back, which after just a few minutes looked to be an error, as former Athletic man Craig Hogg was given time and space aplenty in Brid’s raiding attacks.

 

In the opening exchanges, Hogg saw a dinked effort saved, crashed an effort against the bar and then hit the side-netting when tearing right-sided centre-half Dave Hartas to pieces.

 

Boro did show some attacking threat, with Paddy Miller striking the bar and Hartley seeing the rebound cleared off the line.

 

Brid were always the most likely to score though, and on the half-hour they did when Hogg’s far-post cross was converted by Craig Burdick.

 

Rob Northen, making his home debut, almost gave Boro the perfect response when he headed Ryan Blott’s perfectly weighted cross inches wide.

 

Then the action switched to the other end, as Hogg struck the foot of the post after gliding past a static backline.

 

The half finished with another chance at either end, with Northen charging through for Boro and seeing his shot parried by Mark Wilberforce. Blott fired the rebound just past the post.

 

Then Boro’s Dave Ricardo accidently fed Hogg. Reid did well to slow his progress with a  challenge, and the eventual shot was scooped off the line by Mike Gibson.

 

Keeper Reid continued to earn his corn in the second half as Brid began to turn the screw.

 

He made a quartet of amazing saves from Tom Fleming, Wayne Wallace, Carl Giblin and Ash Allanson to keep Boro in with a shout.

 

Their ambitions were soon quashed though when Burdick  easily scampered past Hartas and let fly with a drive that left Reid with no hope.

 

There was a slight rally from Boro late on when Danny Gray burst through a challenge and saw his drive saved by Wilberforce.

 

Minutes before Blott had been felled in the box handing Boro a decent penalty shout, but in the end, Athletic only received what they deserved from another abysmal performance.

Boro: Reid, Hartas, Miller, Gibson, Ricardo, Ellis (Gray 83), Hartley, Phillips, Blott, Northen, Botham (c) (Medcalf 53). Booked: Hartas, Ricardo, Phillips. Unused Sub: Griffin

 

Bridlington Town: Wilberforce, Belt, Dexter, Lee, Giblin, Allanson, Fleming, Hotte, Burdick (Chippendale 83), Wallace, Hogg (Harrison 75), Goals: Burdick 30, 75. Booked: Giblin. Unused Sub: Mountford

 

Attendance: 701.

 

Referee: A. Greenwood.