Photos: John Rhodes.
Match Report | Bradford 0 – 3 Leamington
Two goals and a red card in the first ten minutes set the tone for the fixture at the Horsfall stadium as a 10 man Avenue were unable to etch out any consolation and Leamington took away all three points.
What was considered to be a must win game by many at the Horsfall got off to the worst possible start for Bower’s men as March opened the scoring on the 8th minute, heading home from a corner at the near post.
Just one minute later Hughes brought down March in the box to concede a penalty and received a red card for his actions. March went on to secure his second, slotting the ball low and to the left a Green went the other way.
Half Time – Bradford 0 – 2 Leamington
Bradford came out after the break and pushed bodies forward as they looked to try and gain some impetus in the game, but were quickly caught out as March broke through on the counter just 4 minutes into the half and secured his hat trick as he went one on one with Joe Green.
The brakes looked to punish Bradford further as the half wore on, with an effort from Clarke sailing over Green only to come off the cross bar.
Another chance came in the 68th minute as Green was forced to tip the ball over the bar as it curled towards the top corner from an excellently placed strike by the goal hungry March.
Avenue continued to look for the ever elusive goal, but with the lion’s share of the possession falling to the Brakes, it never looked to be coming.
Full Time – Bradford 0 – 3 Leamington
Teams:
Avenue:
1 Green
2 Bazeley
3 Priestley
4 Lowe (C)
5 Hughes (Red – 9′)
6 Royle
7 Knight (O. Johnson – 67′)
8 Marriott
9 Sweeney (Heaton – 39′)
10 Hurst
11 Nowakowski (A. Johnson – 75′)
Subs:
12 Rathbone
14 A. Johnson
15 Heaton
16 O. Johnson
Leamington:
1 Weaver
2 English
3 Morley
4 Maycock
5 Mace
6 Lane
7 Carline
8 Clarke
9 March (Goals: 8′ 9′ & 49′) (Taylor – 78′)
10 Edwards (C) (Gittings – 61′)
11 Anderson (Dunbar – 70′)
Subs:
12 Walters
14 Dunbar
15 Gittings
16 Taylor
17 Murphey
Duo Leave On Loan
Jon Moran and Brad Dockerty have both left the club on loan, joining Stafford Rangers and Pontefract Collieries respectively.
Both players joined the club in the summer, but have struggled to force their way into the side recently, with injury and illness hampering their progress.
Dockerty in particular impressed fans over the summer and has grabbed three league goals so far this term, with his move to Pontefract coming due to a change in personal circumstances.
Avenue boss Mark Bower explained: “Brad’s work patterns have changed recently and he has been struggling to commit to training over the past couple of weeks.
“The loan spell will give him a chance to play games again, and we can keep an eye on his progress.
“Together with Brad we will re-assess the situation when his loan spell ends.”
Dockerty will join Pontefract until January, while centre-back Moran has signed an initial one-month loan deal with Stafford.
The defender has been out injured after starting the season with a string of appearances, but is yet to feature under Bower.
“Game time will be of great benefit to Jon,” the Bradford manager said.
“He hasn’t featured over the past few weeks due to a minor injury, and he needs to now get back on the pitch.”
Meanwhile, Cieron Keane and Kemy Agustien have both left the club following short spells at Avenue.
The club would like to thank the pair for their efforts while with the club, and wish them all the best for the future.
Gloucester City Away In The Buildbase FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round
Bradford (Park Avenue) will travel to Gloucester City’s in the Third Qualifying Round of The Buildbase FA Trophy.
Due to Gloucester’s ground sharing agreement with Evesham United and Evesham’s own fixtures the tie will take place at the Jubilee Stadium on Sunday 24th November 2019.
The club will be running a supporters coach to the game, with seats costing £15 for adults and £10 for under 16’s.
Pick up time will be 10:00 from The Horsfall Stadium and 10:15 from Cedar Court Hotel. Returning back to Bradford shortly after the game once the players have eaten.
To book your seat please contact Neil Fawcett on 07811959003 or see him at the Fans Forum Friday or Leamington Spa game Saturday.
FA Approve Transfer To Community Interest Company (CIC)
Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC, are pleased to announce that the ownership of the club has now been officially transferred to a Community Interest Company (CIC) following approval of the transfer by the FA.
The club was previously governed as a community benefit society which proved too restrictive for future investment. This transfer will allow the club to attract other stakeholders and conduct business like a private company.
The CIC is still community focused and so there will not be any obvious changes.
Gareth Roberts, the principal shareholder, said
“This is an important technical change for the club which allows us to move forward and secure a long term lease at the Horsfall Stadium which in turn allows us to attract FA funds to improve the ground.
We plan to expand our academy enrolment next year and base it entirely at the Horsfall. Meanwhile we will expand our community activities alongside our associated charity, the Horsfall Trust, which will become much more active in the future.
We invite members of the community to help our efforts by donating time or money to either entity. The new CIC structure will also allow us to attract additional investors, so please contact the club if you are interested!”
Following this exciting new, Gareth Roberts will be in Bradford this coming weekend and would like to invite supporters to a forum this Friday where they can find out more about plans for the club going forwards.
The event will be held in the club house, Starting at 7pm on the 15th of November.
The bar will be open from 6:30pm. Supporters who are unable to make the forum are invited to submit their questions by e-mail to info@bpafc.com before noon on Friday.
The following day will see Bradford play host to Leamington in the National League North, and the club would like to invite supporters of team’s not in action due to the international break to come along and enjoy the game, with entry reduced to just £5 for season ticket holders of any club from any sport.
If you would like to invest in the club, make a donation please contact Carl Marsden at info@bpafc.com
Reduced Admission This Weekend For Season Ticket Holders Of Any Sports Club
Due to the International break this weekend Bradford City, Leeds United and Huddersfield Town are without a game. Also, Halifax Town are away at Woking in their National League fixture.
In the light of this, Bradford (Park Avenue) have sought and been given approval from the National League to offer season tickets holders from ANY other sports club a reduced admission price of £5 on production of their season ticket at the turnstile for our home game against Leamington Spa.
Please spread the message to all football supporters looking to get their football fix this weekend to help get a bumper crowd at the Horsfall on Saturday.
Academy Fixture Postponed
Due to torrential downpours tonight’s Academy fixture against Shelley has been postponed.
Fan’s Forum This Friday
The club’s owner Gareth Roberts will be in Bradford this coming weekend and would like to invite supporters to a forum this Friday.
The forum will provide supporters with an update on the latest developments at the club and the floor will be open for questions.
The event will be held in the club house, Starting at 7pm on the 15th of November.
The bar will be open from 6:30pm. Supporters who are unable to make the forum are invited to submit their questions by e-mail to info@bpafc.com before noon on Friday.
Match Gallery | King’s Lynn Town (H)
Match Preview | Bradford (Park Avenue) Academy Vs Shelley U19’s
Bradford (Park Avenue) Academy play host to Shelley U19’s tonight at the Horsfall Stadium in the Northern U19 Alliance Football League.
Des Hazels side will be looking to bounce back after dropping out of the Pat Rice Trophy in a closely fought 2 – 1 game away at Athersley Recreation towards the end of October.
The side will likely be spurred on by the fact that three of their number received a call up to the first team last week, proving there’s a real path way for talented young players into the National League North side.
Come along and show your support to the young side tonight. Entry costs just £3 for Adults and £1 for under 18’s.
Kick Off: 7:45PM