Bradford (Park Avenue) out of drop zone by beating Marske

And they did just that, as Chinedu Osadebe headed in the winner just after the hour mark to earn his side a 1-0 victory, moving Avenue out of the relegation zone at Marske's expense.

The first early chance fell to the visitors, who were on a run of three straight league wins after a woeful start to the season.

Former Avenue forward Eddie Church made a great connection with his strike, but home keeper Heath Richardson, who joined on loan from neighbours Bradford City on Friday, did well to keep the deadlock intact.

The first chance of the game for the hosts came moments later.

Will Longbottom’s 40-yard free kick was played towards the back post for Lewis Hey, but Jaan Yaqub was able to make the stop in the Marske goal.

Avenue took the lead thanks to Osadabe’s second goal in two games.

His headed attempt proved just enough to beat Yaqub and despite protests from Marske that the ball had not crossed the line, the goal was given to hand Mark Bower's side the lead.

Marske nearly replied instantly to their setback, as Donald Chimalilo’s free-kick nearly flew in the top-right corner but fortunately went just wide.

Former Bantams youth academy product Jorge Sikora had the opportunity to be the hero for Marske in the final stages, but Richardson’s crucial save made sure all three points stayed in Bradford.

Bower was asked for his thoughts on the clash and said: “I’m really pleased, we needed it after the run we have been on.

“it wasn’t convincing, but we did what we had to do and ground the result out, which is something we haven’t done in many games this season.

“We defended the box really well in the last few minutes, especially at the end when they were pushing on.

“When you’re on a bad run, sometimes you need a scruffy win to get you going, although there were certain aspects of the game we’ll have to improve on.”