Report provided by Edward Taylor
Bradford (Park Avenue) were disappointingly beaten 3-1 at home by Consett on Saturday afternoon, in the first-ever encounter between the two sides at the Horsfall Community Stadium, marking a third straight league defeat for the Green Army.
It would be Avenue who would mark the first attempt of note in the game inside the eleventh minute, with Josh Ashman and Sam Brown linking up well before the former beat his man and curled an effort just wide of the mark from the edge of the box.
Just two minutes later, however, Consett would hit the front.
The visitors retrieved the ball in midfield through Smith, who played a through ball for Walker to latch onto on the left wing before manoeuvring into the Avenue box and calmly passed the ball into the bottom left corner, putting his side 1-0 up in the thirteenth minute of play.
Consett played with the wind in their sails after breaking the deadlock, and they would have cruised into a 2-0 lead inside fifteen minutes if not for a fine save by Cam Mason.
David Allasan raced through on goal with just the Avenue shot stopper to beat, but Mason impressively managed to turn his effort past the post.
Mason was the hero again just 3 minutes later after Charlie Exley’s cross deflected awkwardly off Mark Beevers, but the Avenue keeper pulled off a remarkable acrobatic save to deny an own goal accredited to the skipper.
After a barrage of Consett attacks in the immediate aftermath of the opening goal, Avenue managed to take the sting out of the game and suppress their visitors’ efforts before coming very close to an equaliser in the thirty-fourth minute.
This time it was the Consett skipper who nearly turned the ball into his own net after Connor Shanks whipped in a lovely low cross, causing Ryan McKinnon to divert the ball goalwards and be bailed out by a fantastic reaction save from Harry Moss.
Despite some encouragement, the afternoon would get worse for Avenue- Sam Brown was penalised for a foul in the box, resulting in a Consett penalty on the verge of half-time.
The spot-kick was tucked into the bottom left corner of the net by Calvin Smith, doubling the visitors’ lead at 2-0 heading into the break.
Avenue had plenty of work to do in the second period of play, but just as they did in the first period, conceded within the eleventh minute of the half.
Craig Elliott’s side lost the ball in the middle of the park which resulted in Consett striker Brandon Holsworth slotting Wil Shaw in behind the defence, who finessed his right-footed effort from the left-hand side of the box into the bottom right corner to put the game beyond reach for Avenue.
A quiet period followed the goal, as the visitors proved tough to break down for Avenue, who were frustrated in their efforts to get back in the game.
After a long spell without a clear-cut chance in the game, the Green Army eventually managed to grab a goal in the last of 4 added minutes in the affair through Paddy Sykes.
Myles La Bastide dispossessed Liam Colledge on the edge of the box and saw an effort denied by Moss, but Sykes was on hand to tap home the rebound to get Avenue on the scoresheet.
The referee blew the final whistle moments later, signifying the end of a rough afternoon for Avenue.
Next up for the Avenue is a chance to right their wrongs at the Horsfall Community Stadium, as they turn their focus to Tuesday night’s home clash with Carlton Town.
