Crossleyans slip to disappointing defeat at Bridlington

Crocs started brightly and opened up a 13-8 lead midway through the first half but trailed 14-13 at half time.

It was Bridlington who took the lead after three minutes when Josh Stanyon was successful with a penalty after Crocs were adjudged to be offside.

They drew level on 10 minutes after Callum Dunne scythed through the Bridlington defence on an arcing run carrying the ball from deep in his own half to within the opposition 22.

A subsequent penalty was landed by Ed Cockroft and Crocs extended the lead immediately after following a powerful break from Nick Faulkner in midfield.

Ed Cockroft was up in support and the ball was moved swiftly along the back line enabling Chris Cullimore to finish well in the corner. Ed Cockroft’s excellent touchline conversion pushed out the lead to 10-3 and Crocs were good value for their lead.

In the ascendancy and controlling the game, Crocs allowed Bridlington back into the game within minutes.

An attempted clearance kick was charged down allowing the hosts to regather the ball and touch down in the left hand corner.

The conversion was missed and Crocs extended their lead when Bridlington were penalised for not releasing.

Ed Cockroft made no mistake to stretch the advantage out to 13-8 but, as it turned out, this penalty would prove to be the last points Crocs scored in the match.

An opportunity to extend the lead was not taken when a penalty kick was pushed wide on the half hour and two further successful penalties from Josh Stanyon in the closing minutes of the half gave Bridlington a 14-13 lead.

In the second half, Bridlington were awarded a penalty when Crocs were caught offside in midfield and the referee walked the visitors back a further 10 metres for kicking the ball away.

The kick drifted wide but Bridlington were soon on the attack again following a strong break from Josh Stanyon down the left flank, signalling a period of pressure.

To their credit, Crocs withstood this sustained onslaught effectively and even turned over the ball from Bridlington’s own scrum feed close to the try line.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes, and with still just the one point between the teams, Crocs had opportunities to retake the lead.

An attempted penalty from half way fell short but, from the clearance, they built the phases to take play into the opposition half. They were awarded a further penalty but the strike wasn’t clean, the ball hit the crossbar and Bridlington cleared to safety.

As it turned out, Bridlington finished the game on the attack, eventually scoring from close range.