30 Nov 2019

Match Report | Chester (A)

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Despite taking and holding the lead in the first half, Bradford were unable to take anything away from the 1885 Arena as Chester hammered home twice in the second half.

Bradford went ahead through Billy Priestley in the 15th minute as a low swung corner fizzed across the goal mouth, with the centre back turning the ball into the net off the outside of his foot.

Chester then enjoyed the lions share of possession through out the half as they looked to bring the game back to a level footing, and began to find openings as the half went on. Joel Taylor took advantage of space down the left side a number of times and the home side had a chance just before the break as Taylor crossed the ball to Dudley in the area, but his header flew over the bar.

The home side came out for the second half determined to find the back of the net and earned a corner within minutes of kick off. Joel Taylor’s corner made it’s way to Simon Grand at the back post but he couldn’t keep his shot down.

The equaliser did come though as a ball forward was deflected into the path of Anthony Dudley who had the better of the one on one with Green.

It didn’t take Chester long to capitalise again on their attacking form as Asante found the top corner just minutes later.

With the blues in the lead, Bradford settled back into the game and both sides continued to create opportunities but the back line of both squads kept chances to a minimum.

Just a minute before the end of regular time, Isaac Marriot was given his marching orders, receiving a second yellow for a dangerous foul on Stopforth, thus ending any chance of Bradford earning a point.

Chester: Griffiths, Morgan, Taylor, Stopforth, Livesey, Grand (c), Jackson, Glendon, Asante (Waring 84), Ngwatala (Elliott 76), Dudley (Hughes 84).
Substitutes: Waters, Burton.

Bradford (Park Avenue): Green, Bazeley (Royle 46), Staunton, Lowe (c), Nowakowski (Hughes 70), Priestley, Knight, Toulson, O Johnson (Clare 76), Hurst, Marriot.
Substitutes: Dickinson, Hughes, Clare, A Johnson.

Goal Scorers: Chester: Dudley (49), Asante (53). Bradford: Priestley (15).
Yellow Cards: Bradford: Hurst, Priestley.
Red Cards: Bradford: Marriot
Attendance: 1,875

Referee: Adam Herczeg.
Assistant Referees: Declan Brown & James Welsh.

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30 Nov 2019

Match Preview | Chester (A)

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Bradford travel across the Pennines looking to capitalise on the form shown in last Sunday’s FA Trophy victory.

Having defeated Gloucester with a depleted squad on Sunday, Bower has bolstered his side this week with the signing of former Bradford City and Boston United striker, Tom Clare.

The squad is further strengthened by the return of two players who were unavailable last weekend. Jonathan Royle, who was unavailable for the FA Trophy tie, will be available for selection this weekend alongside Liam Hughes who has completed his suspension following an early red card against Leamington.

Chester, who sit third in the table, bolstered their midfield this week with the signing of Elton Ngwatala who had a spell with Dundee in the Scottish Premiership and will be hoping to close the five point gap between them and second placed York City today.

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29 Nov 2019

Avenue Sign Tom Clare

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Towering striker Tom Clare has today put pen to paper to join the Avenue.

Clare joins the Avenue after he mutually departed Boston United yesterday and is raring to get going and put on the Avenue shirt.

Tom is no stranger to Bradford having joined Boston from neighbours Bradford City. Initially joining Boston on loan in March 2019 then signing permanently when he was released by Bradford City in July 2019.

Clare came through the youth ranks at Barnsley and has also had loan spells at Frickley Athletic and Ossett United.

The club can also confirm that following Jon Morans short term loan deal to Stafford he has now opted to join Stafford on a permanent basis. The club would like to thank Jon for all his efforts in an Avenue shirt and wish him all the best for the future.

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26 Nov 2019

Bradford (Park Avenue) draw Halesowen Town in the first round of the Buildbase FA Trophy

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The tie was announced live on talkSPORT on Monday, following Bradford’s 2-0 victory away at Gloucester City in the third qualifying round.

The first round will feature all the 24 current National League teams.

Halesowen currently sit 6th in the Southern Central of Non-League Division 1 after collecting a tally of 24 points with 8 wins and 2 losses in 10 games, although they do have several games in hand over the teams above them.

The game will take place on Saturday the 14th of December at 3:00pm at the Horsfall.

The winning clubs from this round will take home a prize of £4500 while the losing teams will collect £1500.

Bradford were originally scheduled to have the week off, so this fixture will have no bearing or impact on any future league games.

Please note that as this is not a league game season tickets will not be valid for this fixture and it will be pay at the gate.

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25 Nov 2019

Match Report: Gloucester (A) FA Trophy 3Q

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It was a much needed win for Bradford (Park Avenue) as they defeated Gloucester City 2-0 on the road to advance in the FA Trophy.

Goals from Isiah Bazeley and Alex Hurst sealed the win for the Avenue in what was their first victory in 6 games.

Bradford showed intent from the first whistle and very much deserved the victory having more possession and the better chances throughout.

Man of the Match Reece Staunton, the 17 year old debutant on loan from Bradford City, set the tone for his performance early on, with a brilliant tackle of Gloucester’s Myrie-Williams who looked to be through on goal to keep the score at 0-0.

Avenue pushed on from this and in the 16th minute they were rewarded when they were given a free kick from around 25 yards out. Lewis Knight took the free kick and his effort struck the post, fortunately for Avenue the opportunity didn’t entirely go to waste as the ball then fell to Isiah Bazeley who calmly struck the ball through Gloucester keeper Will Henry to give Avenue to the lead.

Bradford gained confidence from taking the lead and minutes later could have doubled their advantage when Oli Johnson raced through on goal, but his strike at a tight angle was well saved by Henry.

Then on the 22nd minute Gloucester were handed a penalty, with the ref judging Green to have connected with Marlon Jackson when he was going for the ball. Luckily for Avenue Green saved the spot kick before also saving a diving header from Hanks on the rebound — a superb double save that seemed to give Avenue even more momentum for the remaining minutes.

Avenue continued to dominate possession from then on, but chances were few and far between — the closest coming for Gloucester when a speculative effort by Myriel-Williams from around 25 yards out hit the bar when it looked to have been dipping in.

But it was Bradford who scored the 2nd and vital goal in the 83rd minute. Alex Hurst, on the break, raced into the Gloucester box and cut inside leaving Hammilton for dead and his shot — which took a deflection going in — hit the back of the net to spark jubilant scenes for the Avenue who sealed their first victory in more than a month in what must be a major confidence booster for Mark Bower’s side.

Teams:

Bradford:

1 Green 2 Bazeley 3 Staunton 4 Lowe 5 Nowakowski 6 Priestley 7 Knight 8 Toulson 9 Johnson 10 Hurst 11 Marriott

Subs:

12 Lyons 13 Dickinson 14 Boshell 16 Johnson

Gloucester:

1 Henry 2 Thomas 3 Harper 4 Hamilton 5 Daly 6 Russe 7 Parker 8 Hanks 9 Jackson 10 Robert 11 Myrie-Williams

Subs:

12 Jackson 14 Avery 15 Hainault 16 Johnstone 17 Smith

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24 Nov 2019

Match Preview: Gloucester City (A) – FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round

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Bradford (Park Avenue) play away to Gloucester City this Sunday (24/11/2019) in the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy.

The two sides met earlier in the season in Gloucester with the Avenue unfortunately falling to a 1-0 defeat in a hard fought contest.

Avenue enter the game in a poor run of form losing their last five games and without a win since their 3-2 victory over Hereford in mid October. Gloucester also enter the game without a win in 3, losing once and drawing twice since their last victory.

Three new players will be available for the Avenue with Academy player Jamie Lyons recently registering for the first team squad and available to make an appearance, and 17 year-old Reece Staunton who joined from Bradford City on a work experience loan. The borrowed Bantam will be available immediately for the Avenue and may feature on Sunday.

They are joined by former Avenue man, Ryan Toulson who rejoins the squad ahead of the fixture.

The Avenue will be hoping to end a run of three games without a win against Gloucester, having lost their three previous meetings by a scoreline of 1-0. Their last victory against The Tigers came in November 2015.

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24 Nov 2019

Boshell and Toulson re-register for the Avenue

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Bradford (Park Avenue) have completed the resigning of former player-coach Ryan Toulson and have registered assistant manager Danny Boshell for the squad ahead of Sunday’s third round FA Trophy qualifying match away at Gloucester City.

Toulson rejoins after having originally left with his contract expiring at the end of the 2018-19 season. He first signed for the Avenue in the summer of 2016 and captained the side throughout the 16-17 season. He eventually joined the club’s coaching staff for the 17-18 season and spent the season as a player coach.

Before first joining the Avenue, Toulson spent two seasons under current Avenue manager Mark Bower at Guiseley, making 34 appearances to help the club gain promotion to the National League. He has also had spells at FC Halifax Town, where he started his career, as well as Harrogate Town and Gainsborough Trinity.

Danny Boshell has also re-registered for the squad alongside his duties as assistant manager. Boshell first joined the Avenue in 2016 from Guiseley and has spent 3 years at the club, making 60 appearances and scoring 3 goals.

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22 Nov 2019

Reece Staunton Joins Ahead Of FA Trophy Fixture

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Bradford (Park Avenue) has secured left back, Reece Staunton on work experience from neighbours, Bradford City.

The highly rated youth prospect made his senior debut for City in 2017 at the age of 15 years and 332 days, becoming the club’s youngest ever player.

In 2018 he was called up to the Republic of Ireland U18 side, having first been involved with the national team set-up since the previous year.

Reece joins the squad ahead of this weekend’s FA Trophy fixture away at Gloucester and will remain with the squad until December the 8th.

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21 Nov 2019

Academy prospect registers for the first team

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The club is pleased to announce that Academy prospect, Jamie Lyons has registered for the senior squad.

The announcement comes after Lyons, 17, featured as a sub in the West Riding County Cup game against Harrogate Town, alongside two other scholars.

Jamie, who has been training with the first team for a number weeks, has made a big mark for the Academy side in recent months, scoring two goals on Monday, one of them being a sublime 30-yard free kick – and also registered an impressive hat trick in a 5-1 victory over Eccleshill U19s earlier in the season.

When asked about now having the opportunity to feature with the first team, Lyons couldn’t hide his joy, “I’m excited, it’s a good stepping-stone for my career. I’m looking forward to trying to help get the team out of the relegation zone, and hopefully in the coming seasons, get us promoted.”

First team
manager Mark Bower is excited to welcome the young player into the
fold, “He’s been training with the first team over the last few
weeks now, we decided to bring him in after seeing how well he’s
done in the Academy. He’s got a great attitude and always looking
for ways to improve so it’s a good step for the progression of his
career.”

This continues to highlight the significant progression that has been made with the Academy side since the appointment of Des Hazel as head coach earlier in the year, and he had this to say, “He’s a nice young lad, and I’ve known since I first watched him that he was a big talent. If he keeps progressing and listening, it’ll allow him to hopefully gain first team experience. He’s done a good job here at the Academy and I’m excited to see what he can do with the first team.”

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