Trafford 1

Bradford Park Avenue 3

Striker Andy Hayward made an explosive start to his Bradford Park Avenue career with two goals on his debut which helped his new side back into the top ten of UniBond Division One.

Avenue had dropped to 11th in the table, but clawed back three places with up to four games in hand on some of the clubs above them.

Leaders Vauxhall, who remain the only unbeaten side in the division, are pulling away but Avenue are just six points adrift of second-placed Stocksbridge PS and only five behind third-placed Ashton United.

"Sometimes it takes a player a while to get off the mark with a new club," said delighted manager Trevor Storton. "The nerves and pressure can be immense, but Andy has got off to a dream start.

"His goals have given us a win over Trafford and he could have had a hat-trick if he hadn't missed a penalty.

"But it's not just his goals. He worked hard and brought other players into the game.

"It is not all about one player though, and I think even though we had one or two who under-performed we were much better than of late.

"Young Andy Quinn did very well on his debut and the other players were so much better than they have been."

With reference to the previous week's FA Cup exit, Storton concluded: "Overall I was very pleased. If we had played anything like that against Salford City we would have murdered them."

Avenue went into the game against Trafford on the back of two defeats, but with the enthusiasm brought by the new signings they began with a fresh confidence.

Hayward was lively from the off and a deflection off his first shot on goal brought the first corner of the afternoon.

As Avenue strived to break the deadlock, Chris Dolby broke clear midway through the half but he was forced on to his weaker right foot and shot just wide.

The opener eventually came after 36 minutes of almost constant pressure from the visitors. A long ball from skipper Wayne Benn picked out Hayward who had his back to goal and a defender breathing down his neck.

In one motion almost too quick for the naked eye he spun and curled a shot past the outstretched arms of Trafford keeper Andy Merrick into the top corner. The strike even had the home supporters applauding.

A one-two with Jason Maxwell on the hour preceded Hayward's second, before Darren Emmett pulled one back for Trafford, but when Dolby was brought down in the area Merrick made a superb save to deny Hayward a hat-trick. The game was already won when Mark Hancock netted via a deflection off defender Lee Southwood in the last minute.