Burley Trojans 1 Bardsey 1

BURLEY Trojans had to settle for a share of the spoils in their first-ever Heck Foods Harrogate League clash with Bardsey.

Player-manager Tom Higman had a full squad to choose from and he had to make some tough choices before announcing his starting line-up.

Burley opened brightly with Danny Bryan, back from injury, linking up well with Daniel Henderson, who was disappointed with his last performance against Addingham.

Burley pressed high and Simon Walker was the focal point up top for holding the ball up and linking with Chris Holmes on the wing.

Bardsey defended well and were constantly hitting Burley on the break. Goalkeeper Guy Smith was on hand to deal with the long balls and pressure coming his way while Stuart Dibb and captain Dave Healey couldn’t switch off as Bardsey were playing three up top and were relentless with the balls into the box.

In a rare lapse of concentration, Bardsey made the breakthrough. A long ball flicked off Richard Bryan and fell to the Bardsey winger whose shot flew into the top corner.

It didn’t take Burley too long in the second half to respond. They hit the post twice through Henderson and Holmes.

The equaliser came soon enough after some neat link-up play between Dom Grimes and Danny Bryan with the latter's shot from 20 yards flying past the keeper.

Substitute Paddy Bibby had the Bardsey back four on the back foot for the latter part of the match, but Burley were unable to grab a second goal and the game ended in a draw.