Marcus Law takes his Bradford (Park Avenue) side to Darlington on Bank Holiday Monday in search of their first win of the season.
Avenue travel to Blackwell Meadows after keeping their first clean sheet of the campaign in a goalless draw at home to Blyth on Saturday, with Law now keen to get properly off the mark at the other end.
Lewis Knight’s equaliser at Gateshead remains the only goal Avenue have scored, but the interim manager has recently brought in forwards Joseph Chidyausiku and Myron Gibbons to try and turn Avenue’s attacking fortunes around.
Gibbons was replaced by Chidyausiku in the Blyth match that also saw two others impress on debut, left-back Riccardo Calder and midfielder Marcus Wood.
Wood looked solid in shielding the back four, while Calder impressed going forward on the left, showing pace and delivering a number of inviting crosses.
Darlington, meanwhile, needed a stoppage time equaliser from Adam Campbell to rescue a point away at Altrincham on Saturday.
The Quakers have a symmetrical record so far this season, winning two, drawing two and losing two from their six games so far, though both those defeats came away from home.
Bradford have actually beaten Darlington just once since the Quakers’ promotion two years ago – a 1-0 victory at Blackwell Meadows in the FA Cup last season – with Darlington reversing that scoreline when Avenue travelled for the last league meeting in April, which followed a 2-2 draw at the Horsfall.
Recent League Form
Darlington
Altrincham (A) D 1-1
Southport (H) W 2-0
Curzon (A) L 1-3
Kettering (H) W 3-0
Gateshead (H) D 1-1
Bradford (Park Avenue)
Blyth (H) D 0-0
Alfreton (A) L 0-4
Gateshead (A) D 1-1
Kidderminster (H) L 0-3
Guiseley (H) L 0-5
Last Time Out
Darlington: Elliott, Atkinson (Holness 65), Watson, Bascome (Heaton 84), Laing, Galbraith, Rivers, Hatfield, Campbell, Thompson (Donawa 72), O’Neill
Bradford (Park Avenue): Taylor (c), Lund, Calder, Wood, Moran, Digbeu (Dockerty 79), Hedley, Marriott (Holmes 79), Gibbons (Chidyausiku 60), Hurst, Knight
Admission Prices
Adult – £14
Concession (OAP, Student, Forces) – £10
Under-18 – £5
Under-11 – Free
* £2 to upgrade to seating
Words: Joe Cockburn
Image: John Rhodes