Tuesday’s impressive win over Leamington saw Mark Bower’s Bradford (Park Avenue) side make it four games unbeaten ahead of the visit to relegation-threatened Ashton United, who are three points adrift of safety with nine games to go.
That aforementioned victory saw Bradford propelled up to
fifth place in the table, level on points with Brackley Town in fourth position
and four points inside the play-off places.
Goals from Conor Branson and Macaulay Langstaff ensured the three points on Tuesday night, with the visitors scoring through Ahmed Obeng, yet the Yorkshire side weren’t to be denied, much to the delight of the manager.
Ashton’s last league game was a 2-0 defeat away at
Derbyshire based side Alfreton Town. In a scrappy game where either team could
have taken the points, Alfreton came out on top with two second-half goals from
Bobby Johnson and Declan Bacon.
The lowly hosts have only won one of their last six games,
and their problems lie in the defensive third, having shipped 71 goals so far
this season, only bottom club Nuneaton Borough are worse off.
A win could see Avenue move up to fourth outright, if all
other results went in their favour, as well as closing the gap on the top
three, ahead of next Tuesday’s crunch clash at Spennymoor Town.
The last meeting between the two sides was a thriller.
Bradley Jackson and Liam Martin put Ashton 2-0 up, but a late goal from Lewis
Knight, plus a brace for Shane Killock secured a dramatic victory.