COULD Bridlington have two National Schoolboy Boxing Champions after this weekend?

Zac Stabler and Kier Herrgesell head to Mansfield on Sunday, looking to achieve something no other local fighter has ever managed.

Bridlington ABC head coach Damien Grant said: “Both boxers have done extremely well to get where they have.

“The club have never had a schoolboy finalist before so to get two in one year is a very good achievement.

“The lads have got the most important bout of their boxing careers so far coming up and are looking in as good a shape as ever.”

Herrgesell travelled to Manchester to face Ryan Barker of the South Durham ABC last weekend.

He started putting pressure on early and although Barker seemed to struggle a little, he did cover up well making the first round low scoring with the Bridlington boxer winning it 1-0.

The second round was a bit more lively with Barker beginning to throw more shots back at Herrgesell with a few making their way through his guard.

At the end of the second round the scores were 5-4 in Herrgesell’s favour.

With all to play for in the last two minutes, Barker tried to work harder but was put on the back foot for the whole round with Herrgesell really putting the pressure on.

The bout finished 10-7 in the Bridlington boxer’s favour, earning him a place in the National Finals this Sunday in Mansfield.

Stabler was not required to box at the schoolboy semi finals last weekend due to his opponent pulling out two days before with flu. He was due to box Eddie Draytron of Scunthorpe ABC.

Bridlington Town 1

Liversedge 0

Northern Counties East League

IF MITCH Cook went to a casino on Saturday night, it was a sure bet that he would have won.

On the tables you need a mix of skill and luck, and on Saturday afternoon the Town manager proved he had both.

At 0-0, and desperately needing a goal, it is a brave manager who removes his two leading scorers and his most creative midfielder. That bravery either turns out to be genius or foolishness, and here it was proved to be a masterstroke.

With Craig Hogg and Josh Greening, and their 34 league goals this season, withdrawn, Billy Logan, who had been shunted up front to replace them, bundled in a winner with five minutes to spare.

A crucial goal as it took the Seasiders back to the top of the league, and with three of the top six losing, it means Town must now be bookie’s favourites to win the title.

All their rivals have played more games, and Staveley who are perhaps best placed to ruin Bridlington’s dreams, still have the distraction of the FA Vase.

In truth, the result was harsh on Liversedge who more than matched the hosts for an hour and looked to be comfortably holding on for a point as their ambitions reined in as the game was in its dying stages.

Logan was the hero with another late winner, something he is making a habit of, but in the first half it was a new face at the other end of the pitch, who earned the plaudits. With regular keeper Mark Wilberforce unable to change work shifts and his deputy Paul Fraser away, in stepped Ben Escritt, an unknown name to most in Queensgate, but he looked assured in the number one jersey.

Within three minutes he made an excellent dive to cut out a dangerous low cross from the left by Alex Hallam.

His opposite number Daniel Knight set the tone for the afternoon when he redeemed himself after a dodgy kick by turning Tom Fleming’s measured effort from the edge of the area round the post and then confidently collecting the corner.

Escritt endeared himself to the home fans further when he stood tall and blocked with his feet as Robert Boardman was one-on-one, and Liversedge were looking useful opponents, working hard and neat in possession.

Town had not played for two-and-a-half weeks and it showed, with most of the team looking rusty. Operating with Craig Palmer as a deep midfielder, behind Fleming and Nathan Cook, they were struggling to get enough bodies forward - a point emphasised when Logan flashed a cross-shot across the goal but there was no-one within yards of it to tap home.

Greening produced an acrobatic effort which tested Knight and Frank Belt stung his palms with a 30 yard free kick, which although fierce was straight at the keeper.

Escritt parried away another teasing cross after a mistake by Belt gave Liversedge a break down the right, and half-time arrived with the visitors looking good value for a point.

Brid made a tweak at half time, dropping Palmer back into a three-man defence alongside Wayne Aziz and Chris Jenkinson, who was making his home debut. This gave the full backs licence to push forward more but it brought no more joy than the first half.

On the hour mark, Craig Suddaby replaced leading scorer Hogg, who had been fairly anonymous, allowing Palmer to reacquaint himself with the striker’s role he played during his early days at Queensgate.

A great 60-yard pass by Cook freed Belt and his cross was met by another acrobatic attempt by Greening, and again Knight was equal to it, and he made another impressive save from the resulting corner.

Plan B seemed to have worked on 66 minutes when Palmer nodded in a deep free-kick at the back post but referee Michael Connell spotted a push elsewhere in the area.

And so to Plan C, which was removing Greening, bringing on Joe Danby at right back and letting Logan bring a fresh challenge to the Liversedge defence. Minutes later James Bennett made way for Stuart Rice.

By this stage, the away team were looking content with a point, but earlier in the half Boardman had curled a shot wide from 20 yards and Escritt had made another important stop.

Cook missed a header and David Boardman nodded towards goal from four yards out but the keeper stuck out a foot to block.

Into the last 10 minutes and Logan was looking most likely to break the deadlock, heading wide of the far post from a Danby corner, but clear-cut chances were few and far between.

Once Belt had arrowed another long-range shot wide after a quick counter-attack, it seemed Town would have to accept a point. But on 85 minutes, another corner from Danby from the right bobbled around in the six-yard box and Logan stooped to head in from practically on the goalline.

Liversedge’s resistance was finally broken and they had nothing left to throw at the Seasiders in the time that remained. Harsh on them, but you know what they say about teams who play poorly and still win...

]]> 1.4270128 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:13:31 +0000 http://www.bridlingtonfreepress.co.uk/two_teenagers_arrested_after_car_damaged_1_4268189

TWO sixteen-year-old boys have been arrested and released on police bail after a car was damaged in Bridlington.

Police are appealing for information in connection with an incident which happened on Stepney Grove in the town, between 1am and 1.30am on Saturday February 18.

Two boys are alleged to have approached a parked grey coloured, Ford Focus C Max and caused damage to the bonnet, using what appears to have been a sharp object.

Anyone who may have information is asked to call Humberside Police tel 101 quoting log 41 of February 18.

Jezebel – most recognise her as the notorious Biblical figure synonymous with power but forever tainted by her reputation as a treacherous ‘painted lady.’ Is her Old Testament story the truth, partly the truth or just a pack of lies?

The Book of Kings tells us that the Princess of Tyre who became Queen of Israel set off a period of bitter religious and political strife when she persuaded her husband to abandon the Jewish God Yahweh and worship the Phoenician god Baal.

By angering the vengeful Israelite priests, she signed her own death warrant...

Jezebel is the second sweeping and seductive Biblical saga from Eleanor de Jong who has found fertile territory in the ancient Holy Land for epic tales about some of the most controversial women of all time.

She specialises in taking female figures demonised by a history recorded predominantly by men and reimagining their loves and lives for a modern audience.

De Jong’s first novel, Delilah, featured the woman who famously seduced and betrayed Israelite leader Samson, and now she sets her sights on the beautiful and much-maligned Jezebel.

Jezebel, headstrong and determined, is destined to be married by her father King Ithbaal of Tyre as a pawn in a political game.

Led to believe that handsome Jehu, a Judean prince, will be chosen as her husband, she begins an illicit and passionate affair with him when he stays at her father’s court.

But when Jezebel is told she must instead marry Ahab, the middle-aged and shabby King of Israel, Jehu believes she has cruelly betrayed him.

Her destiny now lies with Ahab in Samaria, a city built on a great flattened mountain, where she is resented by her husband’s first wife and the Israelite priests who regard her as a ‘gaudy Phoenician harlot’ with ‘false gods.’

The years pass, and both Jezebel and Jehu nurse their secret. Jehu, unable to relinquish his love for Jezebel, grows bitter and twisted. But he is unaware of Jezebel’s greatest secret – that he is father to her eldest son, Ahaziah, the heir to Israel′s throne.

As her husband’s health deteriorates, Jezebel gradually assumes control of Israel but hatred of her is being fanned by firebrand prophet Elijah, one of the towering figures of the Old Testament, and his terrifying disciple Elisha.

And as they plot her downfall, Jehu circles closer and it seems the die has been cast. Can Jezebel finally take control of her own destiny or has her time already passed?

Grand in its scope and enthralling in its evocation of a courageous and doomed queen, Jezebel will delight fans of both history and romance.

(Avon, paperback, £7.99)