Bradford (Park Avenue) 0-5 Guiseley AFC

Attendance 674

As with Saturday’s defeat to Curzon Ashton, Park Avenue started the game competitively against Guiseley but fell behind to an early goal. 

Aaron Martin opening the scoring for the visitors in the 7th minute with a header that beat Charlie Andrew after slipping away from his marker.

Aram Soleman doubled the away side’s lead by finishing off a clever through ball from winger Gabriel Johnson 17 minutes later and with 10 minutes before the half time whistle, Aaron Martin added to his goal tally with another powerful header to make it three nil.

Half time 0-3

Park Avenue started the second half on the front but again found themselves further behind in the 53^rd minute with Guiseley’s main man Aaron Martin completing his hat-trick by slotting home a fine strike past the left-hand side of Charlie Andrew.

Lewis knight and substitute Brad Dockerty created some pressure for the hosts as they pushed for a consolation goal before former Bradford man Jamie Spencer finished the scoring in the 87^th minute with a wonderful volley from outside of the box that hit the upper side netting of the Bradford goal.

Line-ups

Bradford (Park Avenue)

Charlie Andrew

Mitch Lund

Jake Croft

Isaac Marriott

Jon Moran

Sam Wright

Alex Hurst

Ben Hedley

Shaun Gardner

Lewis Knight

Matty Clarke

Brad Dockerty

Subs

Lewis Rathbone

Zayn Hakeem

Elliot Holmes

Garry Thompson

Guieseley

George Sykes-Kenworthy

Reiss McNally

Bradley Nicholson

George Cantrill

Hamza Bencherif

Scott Garner

Kaine Felix

Jamie Spencer

Aaron Martin

Aram Soleman

Gabriel Johnson

Subs

Lee Shaw

Lloyd Allinson

Dylan Barkers

Kennedy Digie

Paul Clayton

Photo’s Credit: Tom Pearson

Season opener ends in defeat for Garry Thompson’s young side.  

Full time: Curzon Ashton 5-0 Bradford (Park Avenue) at Tameside Stadium.

Attendance: 678

First half

After an encouraging start by Garry Thompson’s side, Park Avenue went behind against the run of play in the 24th minute to an Isaac Sinclair goal. The Curzon Ashton striker benefiting from a loose ball that fell to him in the middle of the Park Avenue half, before breaking into the box and calmly sliding the ball beneath Charlie Andrew. Despite the Avenue keeper diving the right way he was unable to prevent the opening goal. 

Eight minutes later Curzon Ashton doubled their lead with a header from Luke Wall who found space in the box from winger Sinclair’s cross to make it two-nil at the break. 

Second half

The hosts continued where they left off in the first 45 with Park Avenue unable to get a foothold in the game. Sean Miller scoring to make in 3-0 in the 58th minute beating Charlie Andrew with a calm finish. 

Oliver Thornley extended the home side’s lead further when he took advantage of a heavily congested 18-yard box from a corner to pounce on the ball as everyone was trying to find their feet.

And with two minutes before the full time whistle, Luke Merrill completed the scoring as he took advantage of a loose ball that the Park Avenue defence failed to clear on a disappointing for Garry Thompson’s first official game in charge. 

Line ups

Curzon Ashton 

Cameron Mason

Andrew Halls

Joshua Askew

Nicky Wroe

Muhamud Ali

Oliver Thornley 

Isaac Sinclair 

Robert Evans 

Micheal Elstone

Sean Miller 

Luke Wall

Subs

Liam Davies

Daniel Shaw

Luke Merrill

Callum Saunders 

Jack Banister

Bradford (Park Avenue)

Charlie Andrew 

Mitch Lund 

Akeem Hinds 

Jon Moran 

Ryan Cresswell (c)

Isaac Marriott

Alex Hurst

Ben Hedley 

Zayn Hakeem 

Elliot Holmes 

Lewis Knight

Subs

Jake Croft

Brad Dockerty 

Matty Clarke 

Sam Wright

Shaun Gardner

1^st Half

Bradford came under pressure almost immediately with Bennett being forced into a early save in the 3^rd minute. However, it wasn’t much longer until Huddersfield made the breakthrough after Bennett brought down Elliott in the box forcing the referee to give a penalty which was duly dispatched giving the away side a 1-0 lead.

Bradford then struggled to get a foothold in the game up until the 21^st minute when Holmes through ball found Rathbone just on the edge of the area who’s shot found the bottom corner to level the game.

Park Avenue then had to hold on again with blocks from Lund and Rathbone in the 23^rd and 26^th minutes keeping the scores level. Scott High was then put one-on-one through in the 28^th minute against ‘keeper Jack Bennet who came out on top meaning that both sides went into break level.

2^nd Half

Bradford started the second half brightly carving out numerous chances and having the majority of the possession. In the 66^th minute Park Avenue had a trio of chances which they unfortunately didn’t manage to finish.

In the 76^th minute the breakthrough finally came when Cresswell powerfully headed home from a corner swung in from the left to give Avenue a 2-1 lead.

Bradford looked like they were going to see out the win until the 89^th minute when Tim Akinola struck late on for the visitors seeing honours even at the end of the game.

Bradford (Park Avenue’s) next game comes on Saturday the 3rd of August where we will kick off the season, away at Curzon Ashton.

Our next home game is against local rivals Guiseley, on the 6th of August, another Tuesday night clash. Certainly a game you will not want to miss.

TEAMS

Bradford (Park Avenue)

   1. Jack Bennett (C. Andrew 45’)

   2. Mitch Lund

   3. Trialist

   4. Jon Moran

   5. Ryan Cresswell (A. Laird 77’)

   6. Lewis Rathbone (B. Hedley 45’)

   7. Matty Clarke (Trialist 68’)

   8. Sam Wright (Trialist 45’)

   9.  Zayn Hakeem (S. Gardner 75’)

   10. Elliot Holmes

   11. Lewis Knight (A. Hurst 61’)

Unused subs; G. Thompson

Huddersfield Town F.C (U19’S)

    1. Jacob Chapman

    4. Oran Thompson (T. Bamford 45’)

    5. Mustapha Olagunju (N. Kherbouche 45’)

    6. Josh Austerfield

    7. Aaron Rowe (D. Mintus 45’)

    9. Kit Elliott

    10. Scott High

    11. Andrew Ijiwole (Trialist 70’)

    21. Trialist(T. Akinola 55’)

    39. Will McCamley

    42. Ilounga Pata

Unused subs; G. Bellagambi, M. Diaby, S. Meeson, G. Alfield

Cards: Knight (7’) – Yellow

Referee: Akill Ahmed

Assistants: Joe Phillips, Umar Ahmed

Tom Banks Memorial Trophy

Penalty shootout sees Bradford City come out as winners in the Tom Banks Memorial Trophy

The game saw both sides push each other till the very end with it coming down to penalties to decide the victors. Despite the result Bradford (Park Avenue) it was another good pre-season performance from Garry Thompson’s side as they managed to match the efforts of their League Two counterparts.

1^st Half

The first half saw both sides match each other in terms of possession, with City just edging out the Avenue in terms of the amount of chances they created, however they failed to make any of this count.

The first chance of the game came in the 10^th minute when Gardner reacted quickly to get his effort on target which was subsequently saved O’Donnell in the Bradford City goal.

Andrew was then called into his first real action of the day when his quick-fire double saves saw him deny Wood and Anderson to keep the scores level.

Due to hot conditions the night both sides agreed to a water break in the 20^th minute, allowing the players momentary respite from the heat.

The half didn’t really pick up much from that point with City managing a few efforts, none of which were really any trouble to Andrew. They came closest in the 44^th minute, however good defending by Croft saw the oncoming shot blocked to keep it 0-0.

2^nd Half

Bradford (Park Avenue) came out much brighter in the second half with Holmes’ effort hitting the bar after he was played in Hurst. Gardner also came close again with another shot on target which was unfortunately palmed over by the keeper.

After a collision in the box in the 71^st minute, the referee award a penalty to Bradford City. Ismail stepped up to take the spot kick, but he saw his effort hit the post before finally being cleared, much to the delight of the Avenue faithful.

Bradford (Park Avenue) did have a couple more chances in the second half however none of these were enough to test O’Donnell in the oppositions goal, leading to a penalty shootout.

Penalties

Former Bradford City player, Garry Thompson stepped up to take the first penalty which he put away with ease however it wasn’t until the 6^th penalty until the net was found again with Bradford City drawing the shoot-out level after three penalties each. Croft then saw his effort go wide, while Morris managed to put his away to give City the lead as it moved onto the final penalties. Holmes stepped to level the tie at 2-2 however it wasn’t enough as Staunton put away his penalty giving City a 3-2 win in the shootout.

TEAMS

Bradford (Park Avenue)

   1. Charlie Andrew (J. Bennet 45’)

   2. Jake Croft

   3. Trialist (Trialist 62’)

   4. Mitchell Lund

   5. Jon Moran

   6. Trialist (L. Rathbone 62’)

   7. Alex Hurst

   8. Ben Hedley (S. Wright 62’)

   9. Trialist (E. Holmes 45’)

   10. Shaun Gardner (G. Thompson 62’)

   11. Matty Clark

Unused subs; None

Bradford City

    1. Richard O’Donnell

    2. Ethan Sefton (F. Cousin-Dawson 78’)

    3. Joe Riley

    4. Daniel Devine

    5. Jackson Longridge

    6. Anthony O’Connor (C. Morris 78’)

    7. Caelin Rooney (C. Shanks 62’)

    8. Luca Colville (Z. Ismail 62’)

    9. Omari Patrick (R. Staunton 78’)

   11. Connor Wood

   ?. Jermaine Anderson (E. Goldthorpe 45’)

Unused subs; None

Cards: None

Referee: Michael Brownsett

Assistants: Paul Jarvis, Joe Phillips

Attendance: 1171

Garry Thompson’s men see out the first victory at Horsfall this season!

1^st 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 19^th 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 29^th 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.

2^nd Half

Much like the first half, the second half started quietly with neither side being capable of breaking down their oppositions defence.

In the 70^th 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 73^rd 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

Strong Rotherham side provides another good run out as the seasons nears closer.

1^st Half

The first half started badly for Avenue with Lapado pouncing in the first minute to give the away side an early lead. This lead was then doubled in the 10^th minute after Cresswell got caught on the ball just inside the Avenue half by Wiles, who could only manage to find the post with his effort, however this was then tapped home by Vassell for his first of the evening. 

Bradford’s first half chance of the game came in the 23^rd minute after some good footwork by a Trialist of the left hand side won Avenue a corner, however Avenue didn’t make use of the chance.

In the 27^th minute Rotherham found the net again after a free kick, which wasn’t dealt with by the Bradford (Park Avenue) defence, found Vassell for his second of the game. 

In the 37^th minute good work by Vassell down the Park Avenue right found Proctor in the middle, whose subsequent shot was saved by Andrew. Unfortunately for the Avenue Balsar was at hand to give the visitors a 4-0 lead.

Vassell then completed his hat-trick just before the half-time whistle after finding himself on the end of Olusundae’s cross. 

2^nd Half

Garry Thompson then asked his side for a reaction in the second half, one which they managed to deliver with a much improved performance which saw them win the second half.

The Avenue finally made the breakthrough in the 77^th minute when Gardner managed to get himself on the end of one of the trialists crosses, following on from some decent build up play in the Rotherham half. 

Teams 

Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C 

1. Charlie Andrew (Trialist 65’)
2. Alex Laird (Matty Clarke 64’)
3. Mitchell Lund (Trialist 73’)
4. Jon Moran 
5. Ryan Cresswell (Trialist 45’)
6. Lewis Rathbone (Sam Wright 64’)
7. Alex Hurst 
8. Ben Hedley 
9. Garry Thompson (Holmes 45’)
10. Trialist (Shaun Gardner 73’)
11. Trialist

Unused subs: None

Rotherham United F.C

     12. Lewis Price (Laurence Bilboe 63’)

     22. Matthew Olusundae (Micheal Ihiekwe 65’)

     33. Jake Cooper

     15. Clark Robertson

     31. Akeem Hinds

     8. Ben Wiles

     11. Daniel Barlaser

     17. Matt Crooks

     10. Olayinka Lapado (Carlton Morris 59’)

     9. Jamie Proctor (Micheal Smith 63’)

     19. Kyle Vassell

Unused subs: Billy Jones, Richard Wood, Joe Mattock, Joshua Kayode.

Cards: None

Referee:  Matt Sowerby 

Assistants: Danny Bennett, Paul James

Attendance: 310

3:00 pm kick-off 

July 13, 2019 

Dual Seal Stadium

FT Brighouse 2-3 Bradford 

Garry Thompson’s side travelled to Brighouse for their final away game before the commencement of the 2019/20 season.

The match ended in a 3-2 victory to Bradford (Park Avenue) in a strong hit- out for both teams.

Bradford Park Avenue opened the scoring after three minutes thanks to Sean Gardner who chipped the keeper from an inch perfect pass from Ben Hedley.

Despite conceding, Brighouse continued to keep the pressure on Bradford Park Avenue and made it difficult for them to move the ball about as the play became more fast paced and less structured. This change in pace allowed Ben Hedley to pounce on a loose ball in the Brighouse box that came about from a defensive error and slot it past the Trialist between the sticks.

A Period of possession by the hosts in attack led to a Trialist finding space and firing home to bring the deficit to one goal. Within ten minutes, a piercing cross delivered into the away teams box was met by the head of Carl Stewart who glanced it into the top right corner ten minutes before the halftime whistle.

Park Avenue maintained the lions share of possession during the final 10 minutes before half-time however were unable to create an attack of real danger.

2nd half

Three minutes into the second half a Bradford shot was palmed away by the keeper into the path of a Trialist who gently guided the ball into the bottom corner and capitalised on the handling error. 

Despite the promising start to the half both sides struggled with possession. opportunities were difficult to come by.

Garry Thompson and Shaun Gardner we’re pleased with the performance and combinations being built throughout the squad. And are looking towards the August 3rd fixture at Curzon Ashton to mark the beginning of the season. 

Lineups

Bradford (Park Avenue)

‪1-Charlie Andrew ‬

‪2-Trialist‬

‪3-Matty Clarke‬

‪4-Mitchell Lund‬

‪5-Ryan Cresswell (C)‬

‪6-Trialist‬

‪7-Trialist‬

‪8-Ben Heddley‬

‪9-Shaun Gardner‬

‪10-Elliot Holmes‬

‪11-Trialist‬

‪Subs‬

‪12-Garry Thompson ‬-65’- Shaun Gardner 

‪13-Trialist‬ -65’- Charlie Andrew 

‪14-Lewis Rathbone -62’- Ben Hedley 

‪15-Jon Moran -62’- Ryan Cresswell 

Brighouse Town

1-Trialist

2-Joe Wilkinson (C)

3-Reece Kendall

4-Jack Lazenby

5-Kurt Harris 

6-James Hartley

7-Shiraz Khan

8-Trialist 

9-Trialist 

10-Carl Stewart 

11-Mikey Starkey 

Subs

12-Ousman Cham

13-Trialist 

14-Eddie Church 

15-Trialist

16-Trialist

17-Warren Hildred

18-Trialist 

Stern Stag’s test gives Bradford ideal pre-season preparation 

In a match that at times could have gone either way, Thompson would be pleased with what he has seen giving him a base to build on throughout pre-season.

The first half got off to an uneventful start with Mansfield having the better of the possession however despite a few early corners they failed to make a breakthrough. 

The moment of the half came when, in the 12^th minute, Lewis Knight picked up the ball and produced a spectacular run towards the Mansfield goal-line where, after beating the defender for pace, he cut the ball back to the edge of the six yard box for player-manager Garry Thompson to calmly finish.

Both sides then kept the game at a good tempo, however neither side could manage to make any real clear-cut chances to threaten either of the keepers. Mansfield had a trio of corners in the 32^nd minute however they couldn’t make them pay.

In the 36^th minute following a collision with Lewis Knight, Stokes had to be stretchered off with an injury. Play then resumed in the 43^rd minute however nothing of note took place for the rest of the half.

The start of the second half saw a host of changes for Mansfield as they changed their whole starting eleven. 

The changes clearly had their intended effect when pressure from the Mansfield attack saw Lund put the ball into the back of his own net in the 49^th minute. Minutes later Mansfield took the lead for the first time during the match when a cross in from the Bradford (Park Avenue) left by Maynard found Rose in the 6-yard-box for a simple tap in.

Mansfield then won a free-kick from near the corner flag following a mistimed challenged from one of the trialists.  The resultant free kick was whipped in by Benning who managed to find Maynard unmarked near Avenue’s near post allowing him to head Mansfield into a 3-1 lead in the 61^st minute. 

Following some changes for Bradford they nearly managed to find a way back into the match after Gardner managed to get away a shot from inside Mansfield area, unfortunately this ended up wide of the mark.

Fortunately for Bradford, the second goal wasn’t far away when in the 75^th minute Holmes was able to place his shot in the bottom corner of the Mansfield net, drawing Avenue back into the game following on from some good pressure by the home side. 

The game was however just put out of Bradford’s reach when Maynard slotted past Andrew, who had also come on as second half substitute, to give Mansfield a 4-2 lead in the 83^rd minute. Less than a minute later, the former West Ham striker was through again baring down on Andrew’s goal however this time it was Andrew who came out on top as he managed to deny Maynard while also conceding a corner in the process. 

The game ultimately fizzled out in the last five minutes as both sides battled for possession yet neither really managed to create more chances.

Teams 

Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C 

1. Trialist (C. Andrew 62’)
2. Trialist (A. Laird 62’)
3. Mitchell Lund
4. Trialist 
5. Jon Moran (Trialist 70’)
6. Ben Hedley (E. Holmes 62’)
7. Alex Hurst (Trialist 70’)
8. Lewis Rathbone (Trialist 70’)
9. Garry Thompson (S. Gardner 62’)
10. Lewis Knight (Trialist 45’)
11. Matty Clarke

Unused subs: None

Mansfield Town F.C 

     31. Aidan Stone (C.Logan 45’)

     2. Hayden White (J. Clarke 45’)

     4. Matt Preston (K. Pearce 45’)

     6. Neal Bishop (L. Gibbens 45’)

     10. Otis Khan (Benning 45’)

     19. Andy Cook (O. Sterling-James 45’)

     30. Alistair Smith (J.Mellis 45’)

     46. Jason Law (W. Tomlinson 45’)

     47. Jimmy Knowles (C. Hamilton 45’)

     49. Noah Stokes (N. Maynard 45’)

     17. Ryan Sweeney (D. Rose 45’)

Unused subs: T. Sinclair, T. Fielding

Cards: None

Referee: S. Barrott

Attendance: 246

FULL TIME SCORE 2-2

Fitzwilliam Stadium

3:00pm Kick off

July 6^th 2019

Bradford Park Avenue made the trip to the outskirts of Wakefield to the Fitzwilliam Stadium, home to the Hemsworth Miners for the first game of both sides’ pre-season. The afternoon ended in a draw with plenty of positives to be taken away and reflected in both dressing rooms.

Garry Thompson took the opportunity to see how his players and trialists performed given solid game time, opting to field two very different sides for each half.

Hemsworth began well dominating early possession leading to Sydney Cantos finding creating a one on one with Charlie Andrew,however he fired left of goal.

Bradford side began to warm into the game with Ben Hedley and Matty Clarke particularly strong in Mid-Field.

Hemsworth took the lead before halftime with a well taken header by  Viggars who was unmarked at the far post.

After the conceded goal, Bradford park avenue lifted the tempo and a long switch pass from Ben Hedley before halftime was delivered into the box for trialist Brad Dockerty whose deflected shot earned him a goal on visiting his home club.

HALFTIME – Hemsworth Miners 1-1 Bradford (Park Avenue)

Charlie Andrew made a number of good saves in the first half whilst Jon Moran , Ben Hedley and Matty Clarke all gave solid first appearances for Bradford.

The second half saw Bradford more dominant in possession, making a concerted effort to play out from the back and increase the tempo. One of these moves saw Lewis Knight find himself one on one with the Hemsworth ‘keeper before turning inside and out and slotting his shot to take the lead for the visitors.

Mitchell Lund made several important challenges as Hemsworth replied before a lovely team goal from Hemsworth was finished by Adam Knight

FULLTIME – Hemsworth Miners 2-2 Bradford (Park Avenue)

Both Managers were pleased with their sides in the first hit-out of the season. Garry Thompson reported his side was injury free and looking forward to next weeks first home pre season fixture against Mansfield Town.

Line-ups 

First half

GK-Charlie Andrew

RB-Trialist

CB-Trialist

CB-Jon Moran

LB-Alex Laird

CDM-Lewis Rathbone

CM-Trialist

CM-Ben Hedley

CAM-Alex Hurst

ST-Trialist

ST-Trialist

Second half 

GK-Charlie Andrew

CB-Alex Laird

CB-Trialist

CB-Mitchell Lund

CM-Trialist

CM-Trialist

CAM-Elliot Holmes

RM-Trialist

LM-Matthew Clarke

ST-Lewis Knight

ST- Garry Thompson

Despite it being a dreary day at Victory Park the game was far from it with a 3-2 thriller which saw both sides confirm their spots in the playoff places.

Mark Bower made one change from Monday’s starting eleven following on from a 1-3 defeat against York City with Danny East dropping to the bench in place of Jamie Spencer. Chorley on the other hand made a couple of changes to their starting eleven with both Teague and Challoner both dropping out for Jordan and Anson respectively as they aimed for the National League North title.

Chorley started off the stronger side, fashioning themselves some early half-chances including an early long range drive in the 2^nd minute by Chorley centre back Meppen-Walters which was easily held by ‘keeper Charlie Andrew. 

After weathering an early storm Bradford then grew into the game with some good combination play by Knight and Ross down the Bradford right, which was ultimately comfortably dealt with by the Chorley defence. Avenue’s best chance of the match up to that point then fell Lewis Knight who found himself free at the back post, however he was unable to get his header on target. A trio of Bradford corners followed but they were unable to make the most of the opportunities presented to them.

It was then heart-in-mouths moment for the Avenue supporters when some good play by the Chorley attackers saw them get in behind and get the ball in the back of the net, thankfully however the linesman had flagged for offside. It then got even better as just a few minutes later in the 34^th minute Knight was brought down in the box by ‘keeper Matt Urwin after being played in behind by Jake Beesley. It was of course Beesley who took the resultant penalty, giving Bradford the lead and taking Beesley’s tally to twenty for the season. Bradford then would have been through again in the 37^th minute had it not have been for Johnson slipping on the edge of the area.

For the rest of the half Chorley regained control having a couple of chances which again were easily dealt with by Andrew, up until the 43^rd minute when a good ball in from Bradford’s left hand side was superbly held up by Almond who thumped it into the roof of the net to level up the game. Chorley then came close again through a Carver header which was brilliantly saved by last weeks man of the match Charlie Andrew.

After the break, both sides came racing out the blocks with Andrew again being forced into making a couple of saves in the 46^th and 47^th minute. Bradford then created a chance of their own when following a brilliant bit of play by Knight he forced Urwin into making a save. 

In the 54^th minute a long ball down field from a Chorley goal kick was misjudged by Andrew, allowing Louis Almond through again and seeing him put the ball into the back of the empty net, giving him his second of the match. A minute later however, Bradford immediately fired back when a cross in by Knight was bundled home by Oli Johnson at the back post. 

Chorley came close again in the 57^th minute with a free kick which hit the post and eventually ended up being dealt with by the Bradford defence. 

For then on the game appeared to be fizzling out with neither side really being able to create any clear-cut chances as they had done earlier in the half. This continued until the 87^th minute when yet another long ball by Urwin wasn’t dealt with by Bradford’s defence allowing Almond to slot away, in off the post, rounding off his hat trick. For the remainder of the match, Bradford struggled for possession however Chorley rarely did enough to truly threaten scoring again.

Despite the 3-2 defeat, Bradford qualified for the playoffs on goal difference as Telford fell to a 1-0 defeat to previous games opponents York City. This now means that Bradford will travel to Spennymoor Town on Wednesday for the start of their playoff campaign.

TEAMS

Bradford (Park Avenue) F.C

• C. Andrew
• M. Ross
• D. Lowe
• A. Nowakowski (East 70’)
• S. Killock ©
• G. Havern
• D. East
• C. Branson
• J. Beesley
• O. Johnson (Clee 57’)
• L. Knight (Lewis-Potter 88’)

Unused substitutes; Chrichlow-Noble, Hurst.

Chorley F.C

• M. Urwin
• A. Anson
• A. Blakeman 
• S. Jordan ©
• S. Leather (O’Keefe 59’)
• C. Meppen-Walters
• A. Newby
• J. Cottrell (Hooper 78’)
• M. Carver (Tuton 67’)
• L. Almond 
• E. Newby

Unused substitutes; Hanley, Eccles.

Cards 

34’ Yellow – Matt Urwin (Chorley)

56’ Yellow – Conor Branson (BPA)

65’ Yellow – Stephen Jordan (Chorley)

Referee: James Bell

Attendance: 1575