Bradford will be hoping for a Good Friday on the pitch as they head to Darlington FC today to kick off a vital Easter weekend push to secure a lucrative playoff spot.
With the current standings, 6th placed Avenue need to secure 5 points from the last 3 games in order to mathematically guarantee a place in the playoffs.
Despite sitting just 2 places off the relegation zone, 18th placed Darlington come into today’s game with only honour to play for, having secured enough points to to avoid the drop with 3 games left.
Head To Head: Last 5 Games
| Date | Competition | Venue | BPAFC | Darlington FC | Result |
| 30/10/18 | League | Home | 2 | 2 | Draw |
| 22/09/18 | FA Cup | Away | 1 | 0 | Win |
| 10/02/18 | League | Home | 0 | 1 | Loss |
| 21/10/17 | League | Away | 1 | 2 | Loss |
| 29/03/17 | League | Away | 0 | 1 | Loss |
| Win | Draw | Lose | |
| BPAFC | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Darlington FC | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Knowing The Opposition
Simon Ainge
Originally a defender, Simon Ainge was converted into an attacker during the 2016/17 season, while playing for Harrogate Town.
He started his career at Bradford City, playing for them 18 times in League One and League Two, before moving briefly to Bradford Park Avenue at the start of season 2009-10.
He then moved to Guiseley, and helped them win promotion from the Northern Premier League to Conference North (as was) and stayed with them until season 2012-13, making 134 appearances.
He moved to Luton Town in season 2012-13 , making 27 appearances, and then on to FC Halifax Town (64 appearances), before going back to Bradford PA halfway through the 2014-15 season.
He moved to Harrogate Town at the start of the 2016-17 season, and it was in January 2017 when he was converted to a striker, scoring 23 goals in the remainder of that season – he scored four in his first game as a striker against Alfreton — and earned several awards. He scored 13 goals in 15 games in the 2017-18 season, but then he was injured and lost his place to the incoming Mark Beck.
He scored his first goal for Darlington in the home game against Curzon Ashton in August 2018
Jonny Maddison
Goalkeeper Jonny Maddison signed for Quakers after he was released by League Two club Yeovil in June.
Jonny was born in Chester-le-Street and started his career at Sunderland. He was in their Academy until he was released in the summer of 2013. He moved to Crawley, who were then in League Two, and then moved on to the Development side at Leicester City in 2014. He was third choice at the club when they shocked everyone by winning the Premiership in 2016. He had a brief loan spell at Leamington in the National League North before moving on to Yeovil following his release by Leicester in the summer of 2016. He played 20 games for Yeovil, eleven of them in the second half of last season in League Two.
Jonny terminated his contract a year early at Yeovil in order to play regular first team football with Quakers.
He saved a penalty on his Darlington debut, against Curzon Ashton in August