Bradford (Park Avenue) squeeze past Bridlington to go fourth

Last night’s 1-0 victory at Bridlington Town marked Avenue’s sixth win and fifth clean sheet in their last eight games, a run which has seen them shoot up to fourth in the table.

Dan Francis netted the winner for Craig Elliott’s men against Bridlington midway through the first half, his sixth goal in all competitions this season, more than anyone else in the squad.

Avenue made a bright start by the seaside and had the first chance inside five minutes, only for Jimiel Chikukwa to scuff his strike off target.

Bridlington are just one point off the relegation zone, but their results have not reflected their performances, with a last-gasp 3-2 defeat at leaders Cleethorpes Town last Tuesday one of a number of near-misses this season.

And they gave Avenue a real scare last night on the quarter-hour mark, Michael Coulson almost finding the net from Sam Kay’s lobbed ball through, only for Jack Hall to keep out his chipped effort.

Jack Hall made a hugely important save while the game was still goalless. (Image: Mike Bayly.)

But Bridlington were indebted to keeper Sebastian Malkowski moments later, as he sensationally tipped Francis’ bullet header on to the crossbar.

It did not take long for Francis to make amends however, as he opened the scoring after 23 minutes.

The unfortunate Malkowski parried away the initial effort from an Avenue corner, but the loose ball was turned back across the face of goal, allowing Francis to tap it into the empty net from a couple of yards out.

Elliott’s men almost doubled their lead when Sonny Whittingham thundered a shot towards goal, only for Harvey Cribb to produce a heroic block.

Avenue kept up their momentum at the start of the second half too, with Connor Shanks dragging a shot narrowly wide on 48 minutes.

For the most part, any momentum thereafter for Avenue was disrupted by a raft of substitutions due to some niggles among the starting XI.

Captain Luke Hogg was taken off with a sore hamstring midway through the second half, while goalscorer Francis limped out of the game with a dead leg after 70 minutes.

Avenue will be hoping their skipper Luke Hogg recovers quickly from his hamstring issue. (Image: Mike Bayly.)

But despite those setbacks, Avenue remained defensively solid, led by some excellent pressing from the front by Shanks and Whittingham.

That meant, having been tested a couple of times in the opening 45 minutes, notably by that Coulson chip, Hall had a relatively quiet second half in the Avenue goal.

But he was given a fright with just four minutes to go, as Kay headed a great chance over the crossbar from Nathan Dyer’s corner.

Avenue were running on empty by the end of the game, and Bridlington had a last-gasp penalty shout after a tangle in the box, but the referee ruled in the away side's favour and they held on to claim what could be a vital three points.

Elliott’s men will look to keep up their brilliant current run in the league when they welcome mid-table Bishop Auckland to Horsfall this Saturday.