BRADFORD (Park Avenue) have been plunged further into relegation trouble in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.
They had only won four games all season, and sat five points from safety until yesterday, but the deficit is greater now.
In an unfortunate scenario for Avenue, their previous relegation rivals Marske United announced earlier this month that they did not have the financial capacity to compete in the division for the rest of the season, and were thus forced to withdraw.
In accordance with the league’s rules, Marske’s previous playing record from this season was expunged earlier today, with them officially ending the season bottom with zero points.
As for Avenue, one of their four previous wins this season was when they beat Marske 1-0 at Horsfall in October.
But because of Marske’s record no longer existing, that win has been removed from the record books, with Avenue no longer getting the three points from the fixture.
That sees Avenue’s points total slip from 17 to 14 and puts them second bottom of the table.
The two teams below them before this evening’s adjustment were Atherton Collieries and Stafford Rangers.
But Stafford had not yet played Marske this season, while Atherton lost to them, so their points totals are unaffected.
Even worse for Avenue, Basford United were beaten by Marske earlier in the campaign, so that defeat no longer counts.
It means that Avenue still have two games in hand on Basford, the team immediately above the relegation zone, but are now eight points behind them instead of five.
In better news for Avenue, the club are set to announce two new signings in tonight’s fan Q&A at Horsfall, with the T&A able to reveal those over the weekend.
The forum was due to be streamed, but that had to be pulled over last-minute technical difficulties.
The footage will instead be uploaded to YouTube at some point in the next few days.
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