Bradford City midfielder's brother glad of Avenue goal boost

Osadebe, the younger brother of Bantams midfielder Emmanuel, has struggled to make an on-field impact since joining Avenue in the summer, but the forward grabbed Avenue’s crucial equaliser off the bench in their 1-1 home draw against Whitby Town on Monday night.

A win for Marske the following night dumped Avenue into the Northern Premier League Premier Division drop zone, but with his Bantams brother visibly soaring in confidence after goals against Grimsby and Wimbledon earlier this month, can the younger Osadebe prove the difference when the North-East side visit Horsfall?

His manager Mark Bower said: “It’s a real boost for Chinny to get that goal.

“He’s been patient and waited for his chance and he came on in the first half against Whitby after Harrison (Hopper) got injured.

“He was in the right place at the right time to get us level and everyone knows strikers thrive off confidence.

“Goals feed that, so hopefully he can build on that now and keep getting in the right spot. He nearly did later in the game against Whitby and he was inches away from connecting with a ball in and making it 2-1.

“I’m pleased for Chinny, because he’s been a pleasure to deal with and a great lad around the dressing room.”

A new, but familiar, face in the dressing room is centre-half Danny Benson, who joined on loan from Barnsley last Saturday.

Asked if he was signed to replace or play alongside aging player/coach Luca Havern, Bower said: “It’s a bit of both really.

“I can certainly see them both in the same team, and Danny joining has helped us as we’ve been restricted by injuries over the last few weeks.

“Will Lancaster has had to play in midfield, when he can do a job at centre-half, while Jak Whiting is having to play at left-back with Mason O’Malley out through injury.

An injury to Mason O'Malley (second right) has caused Avenue problems at left-back. (Image: John Rhodes.)

“Getting Danny has freed things up in that regard, and it allowed us to play 3-5-2 at Worksop last Saturday, where naivety cost us the game after a good start.

“Danny’s grown physically since he was here last year, and he looks a more imposing presence, but unfortunately he’s just picked up a little hip injury that will keep him out for a game or two.”

Simon Richman and Harrison Hopper are also nursing minor knocks they have picked up in the last week.

The latter was absent for that aforementioned game at Worksop, but Richman and Benson were part of the side who were winning 1-0 when the game was 11 v 11.

After Worksop had a man sent off, Avenue fell apart and lost 3-1.

It has been a worrying recurring theme for Bower’s side, who failed to beat Bamber Bridge and Guiseley earlier in the season with a man advantage too.

He reflected: “We’ve come up against different challenges in those games.

“Last Saturday, Worksop used their experience to sit in and we struggled to break them down, then they scored from two set-pieces.

“But when Bamber Bridge went down to 10, they threw everything at us and caught us out.

“We’ve not done well after the other team has had a man sent off on those three occasions, so that’s something we have to try and improve on.

“Those red cards have all come from us frustrating teams and one of their lads losing his discipline.

“But after putting in that initial hard work, we haven’t built from that, so it’s something we have to work on now.”

Bamber Bridge (white) were the better team against Avenue once they went down to 10 men. (Image: John Rhodes.)

Bower knows points were thrown away in those performances, and though he is seeing good halves from his team, he admitted those need to be turned into full 90-minute performances.

Marske look to now be doing that after an awful start, winning three league games in a row after losing 10 of their first 11.

That burst of form has moved them two points above fourth-bottom Avenue and Bower said: “One good result can quickly become two or three, as we’ve seen with Marske.

“People had us dead and buried in National League North this time last year but we went on a good run and only went down on the last day.

“Often, after that first win, you feel like you can get something going, and while Marske concede a few, they score a lot too.

“They’ve got a striker we know well in Adam Boyes as well (who scored 24 goals in 48 appearances during his sole season at Avenue in 2017/18).

“We know how sought after he is and for Marske to be struggling in this league with a striker of his calibre in their attack is another sign of how strong this league is.”