Bridlington Town set for tough task at NPL East Division leaders Stockton Town

The Seasiders announced the signing of midfielder Ryan Caulfield before the Consett game, so he will be looking to build on his 25 minute debut off the bench, writes Ben Edwards.

Captain Matty Plummer was forced off due to injury, with the extent unknown so he may miss Saturday’s game.

Joe Norton was named on the subs bench but was not deemed fit enough to feature, so he may see some minutes on his return from injury. The final injury doubt is Lewis Dennison, who has missed the last three games through injury.

Stockton have had an excellent start to the season, with their eight wins in 10 games placing them top of the NPL East Division.

While they had a brilliant start, their form has dipped of late, as they have failed to claim three points in their last two league matches. They dropped their first points of the season in a 1-1 draw at Grantham Town on October 8 and last weekend suffered their first league defeat, a 2-1 last-gasp loss at home against Dunston.

Brid Town, on the other hand, are in fine form.

Though inconsistency frustrated manager Mike Thompson at the start of the season, he’s managed to improve his side defensively which has seen his side go unbeaten in the last three games and pick up back to back wins for the first time this campaign.

Although conceding two goals, the team defended excellently against Consett, with first goals of the season from Matt Broadley, Jack Bulless and Benn Lewis enough to ensure three points came home to Brid.

Both sides have been knocked out of the FA Trophy and FA Cup this campaign, so full focus will be on league action with sporadic County Cup matches to break up the league campaign.

In Stockton’s case, two fellow Northern Premier League East Division teams defeated them.

They lost 3-2 at home to Bridlington’s next home opponents Pontefract Collieries in the Preliminary Round of the FA Trophy and were beaten 3-1 at Hebburn Town in the FA Trophy Second Qualifying Round.

Bridlington Town suffered a heavy 3-0 home defeat to Dunston in the FA Cup Preliminary Round, and lost 2-1 at home to Colne FC in the opening round of the FA Trophy.

The last outing between the two sides saw Stockton win 2-1 on home turf.

Nathan Hotte scored a goal at each end, before Michael Roberts netted the winner.

The reverse game saw another Stockton victory, this time with a 3-1 scoreline. Yet again, a Brid player netted a goal and an own goal, on this occasion it was Will Annan.

Stockton had a strong campaign last season, finishing in fourth position and in the play-offs. They travelled to Cleethorpes, winning 2-1 to send them to the play-off final.

However, it wasn’t meant to be as this time they came out the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline to play-off winners Marske United.