Railway kicked off the NCEL Premier League game at Station View without Paul Beesley, their new manager standing on the side-line as he was ill.
The 90 minutes started brightly with both teams getting the ball on the ground and passing it around. Harrogate Railway settled the more quickly of the two and were soon pressing the Bridlington Town goal.
On ten minutes, Railway had the breakthrough when Dan Barrett ran across the left corner of the Town penalty box and guided the ball between the advancing keeper and defender to make it 1-0.
Bridlington responded immediately, pushing forward, getting more possession and trying to create some clear-cut chances.
Their equaliser came in the 22nd minute when confusion in the Railway defence allowed Andy Norfolk to fire the ball home and make it 1-1.
Worse was to come four minutes later. A mix-up by the Railway defenders saw the ball find its way to Tom Flemming who had a tap-in into an empty net. Bridlington Town were 2-1 up and in control of the game.
Railway struggled to find any real, meaningful possession in the remaining minutes of the half, with Town managing to have a lot of possession, but very few clear-cut chances of their own.
The Rail came out with renewed purpose in the second half, seeing more of the ball and pressing Bridlington back in the search for an equaliser.
However, it was Bridlington Town that scored next and effectively put the game beyond Railway.
Tim Taylor received the ball outside the Railway penalty box, ran at the goal and curved his shot around everyone to make it 3-1 to the visitors.
Brett Agnew saw red for Bridlington as he received his second yellow of the game, but despite the numerical advantage, time was against Railway.
Harrogate had a lot of possession in the final 15 minutes of the game, even finding the back of the net at one point.
Brandon Deane, who had poised a dangerous threat throughout the game found himself clear through. He ran straight and shot under the advancing keeper, however the linesman raised his flag and the goal was disallowed for offside.
Try as they did, Railway were unable to make the breakthrough and the game ended 3-1 to the visitors and the three points were heading out of Station View.
Railway have lost seven games and drawn one in the last eight in all competitions. The next game is an away fixture in the NCEL Premier League at Thackley FC on Saturday 1 October.
