Bradford Park Avenue’s Boxing Day clash with mid-table outfit Guiseley AFC was not one that disappointed the fans who made the trip to Nethermoor.
Jake Beesley celebrates his first goal of the afternoon – Photo by John RhodesCaptain Oli Johnson opened the proceedings on 3 minutes after latching on to a pass from Alex Hurst, calmly slotting the ball past Joe Green who was in between the sticks for Guiseley. Then, on 19 minutes, Jake Beesley made it two for Avenue after he collected a long ball by Knight and powered home for his first of the afternoon.
8 minutes later, Jake Beesley notched his second of the game after deftly lifting the ball over the onrushing Green. This goal saw Avenue race into a three-goal lead on 27 minutes, surely a dream return to Nethermoor for Mark Bower. A few vital stops from Steve Drench against Guiseley danger man Rowan Liburd and penalty appeals from Guiseley waved away by referee Dean Watson saw Avenue through to half time with a three-goal advantage over the home side.
Half Time: Guiseley 0 – 3 Bradford
Avenue, again, were quick from the restart when on 54 minutes they were awarded a penalty. Beesley confidently stepped up and although Green got a strong hand to it, it was not enough to deny the number 9 converting and completing his hat-trick.
4 minutes later, another astounding run from Alex Hurst and the resulting shot saw Avenue awarded with a corner, from which Conor Branson bundled home Bradford’s 5th of the afternoon. Around 10 minutes later, in the 67th, Guiseley pulled one back after a loose ball from a goal mouth scramble was fired home by Alex Purver.
Just 2 minutes after conceding, Gianluca Havern was then shown a red card after a late challenge. With that, Avenue had to play out the final 20 minutes of the game with 10-men. Luckily for Avenue, a Guiseley comeback was well out of question, all-be-it more vital saves from Drench made absolutely sure of this.
Finally, after 3 minutes of additional time, the referee drew proceedings to a close at Nethermoor, and the game ended with Bradford Park Avenue claiming a 5-1 victory over the home side and maintaining their position at the top of the table.
Full Time: Guiseley 1 – 5 Bradford
Next Saturday’s fixture sees Bradford face up against Boston United away at the Jakemans Stadium. K.O: 3pm