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.