Bradford (Park Avenue) suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat away at Ashington in a hard-fought Northern Premier League East Division encounter, with Jay Errington’s second-half goal sealing the win for the hosts.
Avenue started the game strongly, creating early chances from set pieces. In the 5th minute, Harry Colville delivered a corner into the box, which found Dan Francis, but his header went just over the bar. Three minutes later, another corner from Colville found Connor Shanks, but he mistouched it, and Ashington cleared the danger.
In the 14th minute, Colville and Shanks linked up again from a corner, with Shanks heading towards goal, but the Ashington keeper made a comfortable save. Ashington’s first real opportunity came in the 27th minute when Avenue goalkeeper Craig Ellison was caught off his line. The home side attempted a chipped shot, but it went over the bar.
Just before halftime, Avenue had another chance when Josh Askew played a pass to Kareem Hassan-Smith, who crossed the ball into the box. Unfortunately, there were no Avenue players in position to tap it in, and both teams went into the break with the score still 0-0.
As the second half began, Ashington looked more dangerous. In the 53rd minute, they broke down the right side but sent their shot over the bar. The deadlock was finally broken in the 68th minute when Jay Errington found the back of the net for the hosts. Despite claims of offside, the goal stood, giving Ashington the lead.
Craig Elliott made his first change in the 74th minute, bringing on Kelan Swales for Harry Colville. Avenue pressed on for an equalizer, and in the 84th minute, Theo Hudson replaced Connor Dimaio, followed by Alex Francis coming on for Luke Hogg in the 88th minute. Despite late pressure, Avenue couldn’t find the breakthrough, and Ashington held on for a 1-0 victory.
Speaking after the match, manager Craig Elliott expressed his frustration: “It’s always difficult when you lose and you think you’ve done enough to at least get a draw. To come up here midweek is a tough ask. Despite that, I thought we started off brilliantly. For large periods of the game, I thought we looked comfortable. We had loads of good moments and chances – I think we probably had 13 or 14 corners – so to not get something out of the game is really disappointing for us all.”
“The main thing for us now is trying to inject more goals into the team, which we can see is needed, but positives from today were our shape and organisation. It’s just disappointing to travel so far and get nothing out of it.”
Avenue now have a break in fixtures due to Carlton Town’s involvement in the FA Cup. The next match is an away trip to Ossett United on Saturday, 21st September, in the FA Trophy 2nd Qualifying Round.