Bradford (Park Avenue) see off Witton Albion in FA Trophy

Avenue dominated their first qualifying round tie at Witton Albion, winning 3-1 thanks to goals from Dan Francis, Paddy Sykes and Kelan Swales on Saturday.

Witton did provide a brief scare when they cancelled out Francis’ early opener at the start of the second half, but Sykes quickly put them back in front, before Swales ensured there were no late dramas.

Danny Whitaker was sacked last month following a shaky start to the season and while Elliott was appointed before last week’s Northern Premier League East Division clash at Grimsby Borough, it was James Hanson and Karl Lenaghan who were in charge of a 3-1 win.

But with Elliott in the dugout here, his impact was clear to see early on.

With only five minutes gone at Witton, Avenue got the first chance as Oli Norman drove into the area and saw a deflected effort trickle past the post.

Another chance came and went when Connor Shanks fed Sykes a great ball, only for the keeper to save his effort.

Just before the 20-minute mark, Avenue hit the front as Dan Francis smashed home a fierce strike from a corner, which came about from some good work by Harry Colville.

Dan Francis (right) acrobatically fires Avenue ahead on Saturday. (Image: John Rhodes.)

With just over half an hour of the game gone, Avenue were still dominating, and they had another chance as Sykes got in one-on-one with the keeper but shot wide.

Moments before half-time, Avenue believed that they had doubled the lead as Shanks put the ball in the back of the net, but the linesman’s flag was up for offside.

Alex Francis and Conner Dimaio both picked up yellow cards in the dying minutes of the first half, and it got much worse than that just after the break, as Harry McGee scored past Craig Ellison to give Witton a surprise leveller.

But with just under an hour of the game gone, Sykes put Park Avenue in front again with his first competitive goal for the club, a welcome shot in the arm for the former Campion striker.

Paddy Sykes (centre) is congratulated on his goal by Connor Shanks and Harry Colville. (Image: John Rhodes.)

And Avenue finished their hosts off on 72 minutes, as man of the match Luke Hogg provided a fantastic ball through for Norman.

He squared it from the left for Swales, who turned and finished expertly to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.

And it was one they never looked like relinquishing, deservedly putting their name in the hat for the next round.