Bradford Park Avenue 1, Harrogate Town 0: Avenue stumbled to their first win of the year on an abysmal night of football at the Horsfall Stadium.

Despite admission being free, the 437 spectators still did not get value for money as Bradford needed a second-half Graham Mitchell penalty to scrape past Harrogate Town 1-0.

Freezing weather, a ridiculously uneven pitch, the visitors' incompetence and Avenue's lack of recent matches combined to create an instantly forgettable occasion.

And to round things off, teenage striker Anthony Bingham's nave shove in the final minutes led to his dismissal but at least the points were in the bag.

"It was not a great game of football and there is very little you can say about it," said manager Trevor Storton after his side had battled for their first home clean sheet since September 11.

"But at least we got the three points. The conditions didn't help and we are still probably two weeks away from getting back to where we were because of his lack of games.

"We are lacking composure but it will come back, and this win has given us a bit of confidence for what will be a very, very tough game against Gateshead on Saturday."

The replay of Boxing Day's abandoned clash started with a presentation to skipper Wayne Benn for breaking the club's appearance record but it was not a happy night for the loyal servant who spent a lot of the game involved in midfield scraps or watching long balls go from end to end.

He nearly broke his two-year scoring duck with a 25-yard volley early doors, but the keeper got both hands behind it on what was a relatively quiet night for both the men in gloves.

The performance of Simon Collins, officially making his home debut, was one of the few plusses on a night of misplaced passes, poor control and wayward passing from both sides.

Things improved little in the second half with Richard Tracey, not having his best game, slicing a volley into the keeper's arms just after the break.

But after 61 minutes Benn got an obvious shove in the back from Scott Bonsall and a penalty was duly awarded.

Graham Mitchell stepped up and fired his usual penalty to the keeper's left for his second spot-kick goal in consecutive weeks.

Things improved a little after that with Andy Hayward nearly fluking one in after a clearance belted him on the back of the leg, forcing a decent save out of Ashley Connor in the Harrogate net.

The game ended on a sour note, however, with substitute Bingham first escaping a card after a shoving match with Simon Sturdy before getting his marching orders after pushing Bonsall.

The Harrogate player, however, should also have been expelled for his original kick-out at the Avenue striker, but the referee awarded only a yellow card.