Two second-half goals from Louie Chorlton and Ben Andreucci saw the Avenue finish their pre-season campaign unbeaten, with an impressive victory against Gainsborough Trinity at the Kal Group Stadium.
On a hot afternoon at The Northolme, Craig Elliott shuffled the pack again for the final friendly, ahead of the season opener against Silsden AFC, and saw his side dominate possession against the opposition, who are a division higher.
There were few notable goalscoring opportunities in the opening quarter of the game, until Jameel Ible came to the rescue for BPA. The Holy Blues went on the counter attack, and an inside pass to Theo Williams gave the striker an opportunity to get a shot at goal. But, the Avenue captain was alert to the threat with an excellent sliding tackle to deny the forward.
Then, the away side came close to making their dominance count, with two chances in two minutes.
A low driven corner from Luke Parkin was met by striker Marcus Carver, only for his glancing header to go just wide of the post from ten yards.
A minute later, the Avenue went direct with a long ball over the top to Parkin. The impressive number ten hit an early right-footed effort from 20 yards, which struck the bottom of the far post. Chorlton was alert to the rebound, but was thwarted twice by a stubborn Gainsborough defence.
Before the break, the Avenue nearly broke the deadlock from a set-piece. Carver, stepped up from 25 yards, right of centre, and fizzed a powerful right-footed effort towards the far post, but it somehow evaded any contact and went wide.
Russ Wilcox rung the changes for the second half, including the introduction of midfielder Elliott Whitehouse, who stung the palms of Avenue goalkeeper Declan Lambton from 20 yards.
A minute later, Chorlton continued his good goalscoring form, with the first goal of the afternoon.
Robbie Fox, who was a constant threat during the afternoon, flicked the path into the path of Parkin, and his cheeky left-footed chip, from 20 yards, hit the woodwork. Chorlton was in the right place at the right time and tucked away the rebound from close range.
Both managers made a number of substitutions, but Bradford stepped up another gear and looked lively in attack, causing plenty of problems for the Holy Blues’ defence.
Before being withdrawn, Carver’s high press nearly worked, as the Trialist goalkeeper failed to clear the ball under pressure, and had to stretch a right toe to divert the ball away from danger.
Replacing Carver was Ben Andreucci, and within seconds of being introduced, the striker doubled the Avenue’s advantage.
Adriano Moke won the ball for his side, 30 yards from goal and flicked a pass to Fox, who nodded the ball to Adam Haw, on the left wing. The striker dribbled past his man and stood up a lovely teasing cross to Andreucci, who headed home from close range.
In control of the game, Avenue were impressive, and were keen to keep a clean sheet, denying any potential shots on target, with blocks from Ible and Winfield in the final five minutes.
Craig Elliott’s side comfortably saw out the game to remain unbeaten in pre-season, ahead of the new campaign. The Avenue return to action in the Pitching In Northern Premier League East when we host local neighbours Silsden AFC on Tuesday 11 August (7.45pm). This is subject to Silsden’s result against Mossley AFC in the Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round fixture on Saturday 8 August.
Bradford (Park Avenue): Lambton (Jones 89′), Brown (Hassan-Smith 59′), Duxbury, Abbott (Ekpolo 59′), Misambo, Ible, Chorlton (Thompson 59′), Shanks (Moke 59′), Carver (Andreucci 63′), Parkin, Fox (Winfield 69′).
Goalscorers: Chorlton (51′), Andreucci (64′).