Gaffers preview: Bradford Park Avenue V Telford United. Sat 17th March 2018 15.00 KO

We welcome Rob Edwards and everybody connected with Telford on Saturday. Given the tight nature of the league this season with Telford currently in the bottom three, a couple of good results from their games in hand could see them up in mid table.

They have had a big turnover in players during the season so far, so the team that we beat impressively in the reverse fixture back in August will be much changed. But given our recent games against Salford and North Ferriby, we know that current league positions mean little. If we can play in the manner we did against Alfreton last week, we give ourselves a good chance of winning the game.

Enjoy the match

Mark

The club are running a supporters coach to FC United of Manchester Saturday 24th March 2018 and Chorley Monday 2nd April 2018, with seats costing £12 for adults and £8 for under 18’s.

Only a few seats are remaining on each bus so to book your seat please see Neil Fawcett at the Supporters Information Desk on match day or call him on 07811 959003

Last Saturday’s home game against Alfreton must have been a great game for the neutral with two teams playing an old fashioned 442 and having a really good go at each other. For us however it was a frustrating afternoon and two points dropped after creating more than enough chances to win comfortably. We certainly didn’t have much luck in the game, but we need to be more clinical with the chances we’re creating to get ourselves winning games again.

I felt particularly sorry for Ed Hall, who came back in to the team and conceded three goals despite doing little wrong. He made two smart saves in the first half, but had no chance with their two long range first half goals. In the second half only a deflected free kick could beat him and it summed up the way it has been going for us recently. With Steven Drench likely to be out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury, Ed has the opportunity to keep his shirt after waiting patiently for his chance in the team.

There have been a lot of postponements in our league in recent weeks and credit must go to our ground staff and volunteers who have not only got games on, but got the pitch in decent condition. Many clubs with much greater resources than us have pitches that are looking a real mess at the moment and this has led to several postponements.

Bring on Saturday

Mark

Bradford Park Avenue’s home match against Stockport County will be strictly all-ticket.

The decision has been taken to make the match fully segregated and all ticket, with the well-backed visitors arriving at Horsfall Stadium on Friday 30th March.

Avenue fans will have their first opportunity to purchase tickets at the forthcoming home game against AFC Telford. Supporters will be able to purchase tickets from the Supporters’ Information desk in the Clubhouse.

Our visitors have been handed an initial allocation of 1,000.

Ticket prices for the match are fixed at the regular £10 adults, £7 concessions, £5 students and £2 under-18s. Season Ticket holders will gain entry to the match as usual, without the need to purchase or collect a ticket prior to the match.

With full segregation in place, Avenue fans will only be able to enter the ground on the day of the match via the Cemetery Road turnstiles. There will be no access to the Park Road car park for home fans, as that is where visiting Stockport supporters will be directed to.

A separate burger van and additional portable toilets will be located at the Park Road end of the ground, where away fans will be housed. However there will be no beer tent and no alcohol will be sold at the away end of the ground on the day.

Home supporters will, as usual, have access to the clubhouse and in-house cafe, and will be able to view the match from the main stand, one half of the pavilion side, and the stand behind the goal.

Fans are, however, asked to arrive at the ground early to avoid queues, and take up their position in plenty of time with seating especially limited.

Lee Knight’s loan deal with Halesowen Town has been extended until the end of the season.

Having been released by League One side Oldham Athletic at the end of last season, young forward Lee joined Avenue after impressing on trial with Mark Bower’s men.

There is currently no planned pitch inspection and as it stands the pitch is playable. However the situation will be monitored throughout the morning and so long as there is no further rain the game should be on.

Dan Pybus has returned to parent club Bradford City after making 3 appearances for The Avenue, following the end of his 1 month loan.

The club would like to thank Dan for his efforts during his time with the Club.

Bradford Park Avenue vs. Alfreton Town – Match Preview

Both sides will be relishing a return to action after their respective fixtures fell victim to the ‘Beast from the East’ last week but for very different reasons.

Avenue suffered a humiliating defeat to rock-bottom North Ferriby United in their last outing, with manager Mark Bower describing their performance as the worst he had seen since his appointment.

Alfreton, on the other hand, have shown significant improvement since former Halifax Town defender Chris Moyses took charge in mid-January. They suffered narrow defeats to high-fliers Salford City and Harrogate Town in February but have also brushed aside Leamington, Blyth Spartans and Tamworth since the managerial change. In their last league outing, defender Tom Allan struck against his former club York City to secure a valuable point at Bootham Crescent before they booked their place in the Derbyshire Senior Cup final three days later. A commendable effort from volunteers to clear the snow at the Impact Arena allowed the Cup tie to go ahead, and the hardy souls were rewarded with the witnessing of a 2-0 win over Ilkeston Town.

In the last meeting between the sides, Mark Ross turned a cross into his own net to give Alfreton the lead but saw his blushes spared by second-half strikes from Adam Boyes and Oli Johnson, as well as a bullet header from Shane Killock.

GUIDE TO THE OPPONENTS:

 THE GAFFER:

 Chris Moyses

52-year-old Moyses was appointed as Alfreton boss in January after nearly two years away from football. He began his managerial career in February 2010 when he was handed the reins at Lincoln Moorlands Railway in the NCEL Premier Division, and he helped guide them to safety in remarkable fashion as they secured 22 points from their final eleven league games. In the following season, he steered the club to a sixth-placed finish but resigned in May 2011. After spending time coaching within Lincoln City’s youth set-up, he took up the role of first-team manager in December 2014 after a brief spell as caretaker manager. The Imps finished 15^th in his first season, before climbing to 13^th in the following campaign. Current Lincoln manager Danny Cowley replaced Moyses in May 2016. As a player, he lined-up for our Yorkshire counterparts Halifax Town between 1984 and 1985 before dropping into non-league to represent Boston United, Shepshed Charterhouse and Grantham. He also represented the club he would go on to manage, Lincoln, during a stint with the Imps in 1984.

KEY PLAYERS:

Tom Allan

The 23-year-old utility man has established himself as a key figure for Alfreton this season having penned a new one-year deal with the club in June 2017. Allan ascended the ranks of hometown club York City after agreeing youth terms with the club aged eight and made his debut for the Minstermen as a substitute in a 4-1 win over Bristol Rovers in December 2012. He represented Hucknall Town and Harrogate Town during loan spells whilst with York, before leaving in 2014 to join Gateshead. Despite making 22 appearances in the top tier of non-league football in the 2014-15 season, he was released by newly-appointed Tynesiders manager Malcolm Crosby in June 2015. Allan was snapped up by Alfreton following his release and has featured regularly in the first-team either side of a loan spell with Tadcaster Albion. He helped the Reds pick up a vital point on the road in their last league outing with an equalising goal against former club York.

Brendon Daniels

The 24-year-old product of Crewe Alexandra’s academy is a tricky winger who is no stranger to football in Yorkshire having lined-up for Harrogate Town in the 2014-15 season. He netted 22 goals in 40 appearances at the CNG Stadium, earning a move to AFC Fylde in May 2016. He helped the club achieve promotion to the National League in his debut season but didn’t follow them into the top tier of non-league football, joining Alfreton instead in August 2017. He has already notched 13 goals in 30 appearances so far this season and will be looking to add to his tally on Saturday.

Craig Westcarr

Westcarr trails Daniels by one goal in Alfreton’s goal scoring chart this season but has been equally as impressive. The 33-year-old has found the back of the net on 12 occasions and is currently enjoying his second campaign at the Impact Arena having joined from Mansfield Town in 2016. He became Nottingham Forest’s youngest ever first-team player when he made his debut as a 16-year-old in 2001 but dropped into non-league four years later after agreeing terms with Cambridge United. The former England under-21 international then joined Kettering Town in 2007, where three impressive seasons earned him a move back to the Football League with Notts County in 2009. He helped fire County to the League Two title in 2010 and scored the opening goal against Sunderland in an FA Cup giant-killing at the Stadium of Light in January 2011. He left Meadow Lane in 2011, and represented Chesterfield, Walsall, Portsmouth and Mansfield Town in the Football League before a loan spell with Southport returned him to the non-league game in 2016.

Saturday’s game kicks-off at 3pm at the Horsfall Stadium, with admission priced at just £10 for adults, £7 for concessions, £5 for students and £2 for under-18s 

It was a day when too many of our players were way below what we expect from them and what I know they are capable of and in the end we suffered an embarrassing defeat. Whilst we have not been picking up many results recently, on the whole our performances have warranted a much better return, but in the Ferriby game, everyone in the dressing room knows that there was no excuse for what happened and we owe everyone connected with the club a much better performance on Saturday coming.

In a way the game summed up a lot of our season. When we have been good, we’ve been really good and chalked up some impressive and comprehensive victories, but what we haven’t done enough of is win the tight games, win ugly or take a point when we’ve not been at our best. The Ferriby game was a perfect example, we did not play well, but we had more than enough chances to win comfortably and they scored with their only real chance of the game. Of the 12 games we’ve lost this season, 9 have been one goal defeats, but of our 12 wins only three have been by a single goal. It’s clear that if we can turn more of these tight games in our favour in the final ten games we can still achieve our target for the season, but being more clinical in both boxes will be key.

We will be looking to bounce back on Saturday

Thanks

Mark