Bradford Park Avenue manager Trevor Storton today paid tribute to the two strikers spearheading a surge up the Unibond League

Andy Hayward and Jason Maxwell came together when Storton paid Frickley Athletic £10,000, a record fee for the re-formed Avenue, to bring former Rotherham striker Hayward to Horsfall Stadium early last season.

Storton had snapped Maxwell up from Gainsborough Trinity, another club who at the time were in the higher division of the UniBond than Division One Park Avenue.

"They have had a fantastic understanding right from the start and they are doing really well again this season," says Storton. "They are neck and neck in the race to be leading scorer and one of them will win it but both deserve the praise.

"Their goals got us promoted last season and will hopefully keep us in the Premier Division this time round as we try to consolidate.

"But that is just one aspect of their game, it is their all round play that makes them such good players. They have played at a higher level and it shows.

"Their link up play is good, they both work so hard and both like to get out wide to spread the play, bringing others into the game. A lot of the goals that have come from the other players have been created or laid on by Andy and Jason."

Hayward leads the scoring list with 16 while Maxwell is one behind. Each of their totals include nine in the league while cup goals take their tally past 30.

They are on course to equal last season's haul of 47, when Hayward claimed 25. Hayward averages more than one goal every two games, having amassed 41 in 77 appearances.

Park Avenue historian Tim Clapham said: "They remind me of Kevin Hector and Bobby Ham in the 60s. They had a couple of seasons where they scored high."

"Hector was always the one out in front and Ham was not as close to him as Maxwell has been to Hayward over the past two seasons but they were the dominant players and you could rely on them to bag a few goals."