RADCLIFFE BORO ... 1 BRIDLINGTON ... 1

THE early season promise had quickly evaporated and two points dropped against a very average Bridlington Town underlined the fact.

Following the disappointing result against Burscough in midweek, manager Kevin Glendon made changes, introducing new signing Paul Challinor in the centre of defence and giving James Price, Davey Luker, Steve Foster and Karl Marginson their first starts of the season.

However, despite the changes, Boro failed to find their fluent passing game that has been their trademark and they contrived to present Town with an equaliser they scarcely deserved.

Any flowing football was quickly stamped out by the over-fussy referee Mr Hutchinson; who managed to upset players and supporters from both sides.

There was little pattern to the early play, neither side being able to string together their passes.

Danny Hurst produced an early save from Craig Burdick's header before a neat buildup between Davey Luker, Lee Duffy and Steve Foster almost opened up the Town defence.

Bridlington goalkeeper Nick Baxter produced a fine save to turn over striker Phil Denney's 17th minute header but could not keep out Simon Kelly's near post header as Boro grabbed the lead from the resulting corner, to the delight of their loyal fans.

Boro could not develop any real rhythm but could have extended their lead on the half hour.

Denney's header put Foster in the clear but Baxter quickly left his line to smother the shot.

Baxter was soon in the action again, saving Marginson's free-kick at full stretch and parrying Lee Duffy's follow up.

Bridlington enjoyed their share of possession but rarely troubled Hurst and Boro looked the more incisive but couldn't deliver the knockout punch.

The second goal almost arrived shortly after the break when Kelly headed Marginson's teasing free-kick over the bar and Simon Carden mis-controlled Foster's cross when well-placed.

The referee's whistle-happy display gave Bridlington three free-kicks outside the penalty area but Hurst coped easily whilst Baxter had more difficulty just managing to clutch Heald's 30-yard kick on the line.

On 69 minutes, Foster again found himself in the clear but Baxter came out on top when he fingertipped the striker's effort round the post. Denney headed Duffy's deep cross over the bar and Foster's attempted to clip Baxter with Denney well placed in the middle as Boro searched for the second goal.

For Town, Martin Tracker twice tried his luck from distance and substitute Gareth Collinson poked a shot past Hurst but the effort rolled wide of the mark.

Boro paid the penalty for those missed chances when Bridlington broke clear in the 80th minute.

Paul Palmer hared down the left and his testing low shot was parried by Hurst, only for Collinson to follow up to head into the unguarded net.

Boro were now struggling to create chances whilst Town saw an opportunity to clinch all three points.

Collinson almost did just that with a clever turn but his cross shot drifted wide and, in the final minute, Tracker's 28-yard free-kick was well saved by Hurst.

Despite having what appears to be a strong squad, manager Kevin Glendon has yet to get the blend right.

Challinor made an impressive debut but the midfield has not yet gelled whilst the front two gave plenty of effort, but failed to hit the target and kill the game off.

BORO: Hurst, Duffy, Heald (Baguley), Kelly, Challinor, Luker (Battersby), Marginson, Carden, Denney, Foster, Price.