The hosts were the first to threaten as winger Matt Lowe came close to notching an early opener.
He was teed up by Lee Ndlovu and advanced into the box at an alarming speed, but saw his shot blocked by a sliding Shane Killock.
Brackley’s
Omari Sterling-James then embarked on a mazy run down the left before
cutting in and drawing an impressive stop from Steven Drench with a
curling effort.
Drench was
called into action again when the resulting corner delivery landed at
the feet of Oran Jackson, who stung the goalkeeper’s palms with a
close-range strike.
The Saints
were eventually rewarded for their pressure when veteran midfielder
Carl Baker broke the deadlock. Brackley’s latest signing rifled
into top corner from around 25-yards out, rendering a diving Drench
helpless.
After
taking the lead, Brackley continued to cause Bradford problems and
Drench was forced to palm Lowe’s shot wide after the winger
advanced unchallenged.
As the
second-half entered its latter stages, Bradford sought to mount a
comeback and demonstrated a quicker tempo in the final third. Oli
Johnson lifted into the box from the left, but Jake Beesley failed to
connect cleanly with the ball under pressure from Jackson and headed
wide.
Gianluca
Havern connected with Lewis Knight’s corner delivery with just a
minute of the first-half remaining, but his powerful header found the
wrong side of the post.
Saints
skipper Gareth Dean then thwarted Beesley, making a last-ditch tackle
that prevented Bradford’s marksman going one-on-one with Danny
Lewis.
HALF-TIME:
Brackley Town 1-0 Bradford (Park Avenue)
Lowe had
proven to be a thorn in Bradford’s side throughout the first-half
and his direct running created an opportunity within two minutes of
the second-half beginning. He accelerated down the right flank before
rolling the ball into the path of Baker, who saw his shot blocked by
Havern.
James
Armson then tried his luck from 20-yards but his tame effort was held
comfortably by Drench.
Drench,
however, was powerless to prevent Ndlovu’s header nestling in the
back of the net after the forward met Shane Byrne’s cross.
Bradford
embarked on a hunt for an opening as they attempted to claw their way
back into the game, but both Jamie Spencer and Knight saw efforts
blocked in the 18-yard box.
The hosts
continued to pose an attacking threat despite their relatively
comfortable lead and Lowe was denied by Drench after darting into the
box from the right flank.
Brackley’s
lead was eventually extended through Baker, who fired into the top
corner from close-range after the ball was delivered to him on a
plate by Lowe.
The
visitors failed to produce a response in the final ten minutes as
Brackley held strong and nullified the attacking threat in Bradford’s
frontline.
FULL-TIME:
Brackley Town 3-0 Bradford (Park Avenue)
Brackley
Town: Lewis, Myles, G. Walker, Byrne,
Jackson, Dean (c), Lowe, Armson (A. Walker 78’), Ndlovu (Nti 88’),
Baker, Sterling-James (Fairlamb 68’).
Unused
substitutes: Jeffers.
Bradford
(Park Avenue): Drench, Ross, Lowe, Spencer,
Killock (c) (Nowakowski 72’), Havern, Knight, Branson, Beesley,
Johnson (Hurst 52’), Clee (East 78’).
Unused
substitutes: Atkinson, Dawson.
Referee:
Matt Russell
Attendance:
487
