Bridlington Town 3, Newton Aycliffe 5
By Ryan Livingston
Newton Aycliffe were the victors of an eight-goal thriller in Bridlington as they boosted their play-off chances even further.
The final away game of the season made great viewing for the Aycliffe supporters who had travelled in numbers to back Brian Atkinson’s side as they look to secure a top six spot.
Aycliffe are fourth in the Northern Premier League East table with just four games to go.
Ethan Wood opened Aycliffe’s scoring at Bridlington after 37 minutes with a rocket of a finish.
He was teed up in the centre of the D by Cole Kiernan, and Wood’s shot saw the ball fly above every Bridlington player in the box to sweetly hit the top corner.
Four minutes later and Aycliffe saw their second come from Liam Jarvie at even further range than Wood’s finish.
Jarvie jinked past Tom Algar and Pete Davidson with ease to fire from distance.
At the other end Winter yet again exhibited brilliant reflexes to deny Norfolk’s free kick on the cusp of half-time.
Aycliffe remained the dominant side going into the second half and they made it 0-3 in the 59th minute.
Cole Kiernan got his second assist, this time his pass found substitute Cieran Jackson who wasted no time in firing it past Hitchcock.
Winter was once again proving resolute in the Aycliffe net, reacting at just the right time to stop Lewis Dennison’s potentially dangerous run.
Cole Kiernan was proving a tricky customer for Bridlington to handle, Toby Pascoe crossed the perfect ball which found Kiernan’s head to make it 0-4 in the 63rd minute.
It should have been plain sailing by the seaside for Aycliffe after this, until Bridlington pulled one back courtesy of Andrew Norfolk who fired a strong shot to make it 1-4. It seemed now the wind was firmly in the sails of Bridlington.
Will Sutton launched a cross into the box that hit the crossbar and fell to the feet of Lewis Dennison who scored with a tap in to make it 2-4 in the 89th minute.
Aycliffe were on the ropes now and in the 91st minute Ali Aydemir dribbled past several Aycliffe defenders to fire a low shot past Winter to make it 3-4.
But the final goal went the way of Aycliffe, Kyle Davis fired the ball past Hitchcock at such velocity all Bridlington’s Benn Lewis could do was poke it into his own net to make it 3-5 with the referee blowing his whistle soon after.
Aycliffe now have three home games to finish their first Northern Premier League season.
Carlton Town visit Moore Lane on Saturday (April 13), with title-chasing Dunston returning on Tuesday (April 16) to try again after the Easter Monday game was abandoned.
Fellow play-off hopefuls Pontefract Collieries conclude the season on Saturday, April 27.