Bridlington Town set for Beverley Town test in the East Riding FA Senior Cup

It promises to be a special game for many of the players and staff of both teams, as there are plenty who have had associations with both clubs, writes Ben Edwards.

Most notably, Bridlington manager Mike Thompson was appointed in the summer, joining from Tuesday’s opponents Beverley, alongside goalkeeper coach Ron Milham.

Thompson brought trio Jack Griffin, Joe Norton and Danny Finch to the club.

In the other camp, Matty Plummer, who was appointed Brid captain at the start of the season, opted to join Beverley a few weeks ago leaving Griffin to take the armband.

Other players to have previously featured for the Seasiders include Chris Adams, Phil Dobson and Alex Knaggs.

The hosts go into the game off the back of two consecutive late goals.

They followed up a 1-1 draw at Dunston with a 2-1 victory back at home against North Shields.

Joe Norton netted the equaliser against Dunston with a minute to go, whilst Jack Yates headed Brid into the lead in the 93rd minute against North Shields.

Both Norton and Yates netted their first league goals of the season off the bench in the respective games.

Bridlington went behind in the game five minutes into the second half, but immediately equalised through Ali Aydemir just a minute later, his first goal since he scored against Colne FC in the FA Trophy on September 13.

The victory took them above North Shields and up two positions into eighth, knocking on the door for a playoff position which is just three points away.

It was also the first time Thompson named an unchanged starting line-up since the opening two games of the season, so the Seasider faithful will wonder if he will opt for the same team for three consecutive games.

Beverley Town are under the new management of Dave Ricardo after Thompson’s departure to Brid.

His most notable piece of business came when he announced the signing of Daniele Mannini.

The 38-year-old comes with a wealth of experience, having made over 200 Serie A appearances for Brescia, Napoli and Sampdoria.

The signing came when chairman Mark Smith happened to bump into the veteran midfielder on a dog walk. While he hadn’t played since leaving Italian third-tier side Pontedera in January 2020, having played with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho and Francesco Totti, he is evidently a marquee signing for this level.

He made his first appearance for the side against Staveley, where he was utilised as a sub.

The away side progressed to the cup’s second round after edging Cherry Burton 1-0, thanks to a late Craig Muirhead winner.

On the other hand, Town had a bye to this stage of the East Riding Senior Cup.

League form has been poor of late for the visitors. They are winless in their previous four games, picking up just one point.

Their most recent result was a 5-1 hammering at Staveley MW.

Beverley are new to the NCEL Division One, having earned promotion the previous season under Thompson.

They currently sit 13th, having picked up 18 points in 16 games, thanks to five victories and three draws.