Garry Thompson’s men see out the first victory at Horsfall this season!
1st Half
The game got off to a slow start with both teams seeing an equal share of possession but neither side managed to carve out any clear-cut chances.
This trend continued up until the 19th minute when some good play down the Avenue right saw Gardner pick up the ball 25 yards out from goal and get fouled in the process. Ben Hedley then stepped to convert an expertly executed free kick, placing it in the top right corner to give Avenue a 1-0 lead.
Bradford then doubled their lead in the 29th minute through another free kick. The ball was played about around the Wednesday area before the Trialist managed to get a shot off. The Sheffield Wednesday keeper then made a decent save which fell as far as the on waiting Moran who reacted quickest to prod the ball home and double Avenue’s advantage.
Wednesday then managed to win a penalty in the 38th minute which was slotted home from twelve yards by Hunt to half the visitor’s deficit, meaning that Bradford went in 2-1 up at half-time.
2nd Half
Much like the first half, the second half started quietly with neither side being capable of breaking down their oppositions defence.
In the 70th minute, Bradford managed to breakthrough again through a Trialist. Gardner had a shot, which was deflected across the goal to the Trialist who smashed it home to give Park Avenue a 3-1 lead.
In the 73rd minute, Andrew produced a brilliant save to preserve Bradford’s second-half clean sheet, which they ultimately managed to do with Sheffield Wednesday failing to make a breakthrough in the second half.
TEAMS
Bradford (Park Avenue)
1. Jack Bennett (Charlie Andrew 59’)
2. Ben Hedley
3. Jake Croft
4. Jon Moran
5. Mitch Lund
6. Sam Wright
7. Trialist (Alex Hurst 75’)
8. Lewis Rathbone
9. Shaun Gardner (Garry Thompson 75’)
10. Elliot Holmes
11. Matty Clarke
Unused subs; None
Sheffield Wednesday
1. Josh Render
2. Josh Dawodu
3. Joe West
4. Alex Hunt
5. Trialist
6. Trialist
7. Jack Stobbs (Fraser Preston 45’)
8. Connor Kirby
9. Omar Damba (Preslav Borokov 59’)
10. Liam Shaw
11. Ben Hughes (Jordan O’Brien 59’)
Unused subs; Luke Jackson, Liam Waldock, Charlie Reaney
Cards: None.
Referee: Neil Howlett
Assistants: Ian Thornton, Michael Brownset
Attendance: 234