Bridlington Town ready for Hessle East Riding FA Senior Cup semi-final challenge

Whoever is victorious will play Hedon Rangers FC. They beat Hull City Under 23s 4-2 on penalties at the same venue a fortnight ago, after the game was tied 2-2 after 90 minutes, writes Ben Edwards.

The Seasiders have got this far after drawing 3-3 against Beverley Town and winning 5-4 on penalties.

They then dominated against Hall Road Rangers and won 4-0 in the quarter-final clash, booking their place in the semi-final for the first time since they won the competition four years ago.

As for Hessle Sporting Club, they beat Hornsea Town 3-0 in the first round before picking up a 5-0 victory against Sculcoates Amateurs.

The quarter-final saw them pick up a narrow 1-0 against Dunnington and now they are tasked with pulling off an upset against the highest ranked team in the competition.

Brid Town needed to bounce back from a 3-0 home defeat against Cleethorpes Town midweek and did this with an excellent 1-1 draw against Pontefract Collieries.

Manager Adrian Costello was forced to name a depleted squad due to injuries and unavailability, along with an incredibly challenging and boggy pitch it proved to be a tough task ahead.

Nevertheless, his side battled incredibly and despite going behind, Rotherham United loanee capped off an excellent first start for the club with an equalising goal in the 78th minute.

Eddie Rogerson and Matty Dixon, who have been out with groin and quad issues for the last three games, will likely miss the semi-final, with the aim being to get them back in the squad for the Dunston game on Saturday March 25th.

The point saw Brid Town remain 11th in the Northern Premier League Division East table with 39 points after 32 games.

Similarly, Hessle also occupy 11th position, but the Humber Premier League Premier Division, which is three leagues below the Seasiders.

They have picked up 16 points in 15 games.

Hessle have picked up back-to-back 4-1 victories, having beaten Hessle Rangers in a cup game before picking up three points against East Riding Rangers.

Bridlington Town have enjoyed an enormous amount of success in this competition throughout their history.

The 1920/21 season was Brid Town’s first, which is also when they won their first East Riding Senior Cup, beating Gilberdyke 2-1 in a game played at Anlaby Road, Hull. Since then, the club have won the competition a further 18 times.

Costello will no-doubt be looking to take the next step in making it 20 Senior Cups.

He said: “It should be a good occasion, one which the players and staff are looking forward to.

“It’s been four years I believe since the club was last at this stage so I hope many of our supporters make the trip and the boys can give them something to cheer about.”