Bradford Park Avenue 3, Kendal Town 2

Avenue overcame a very difficult start this afternoon to bounce back from a two-goal deficit and keep their noses in front in the UniBond League Premier Division title race.

Mark Hume picked up a 12th-minute yellow card and was substituted a minute later as he looked uncomfortable from the off.

Kendal Town were on top and netted twice in a seven- minute spell midway through the first half.

Hume was replaced by midfielder Jamie Price, with Matty James coming off the bench into midfield.

Amjad Iqbal was the other started in the centre of defence and he limped out four minutes before the break, with striker Aiden Savory dropping back to plug the gap.

Crucially, Bradford snatched a goal back in the third minute of first-half stoppage time.

The patched-up side went on to dominate the second period, much to the relief of Avenue manager John Deacey.

He said: “I think that was the comeback of all comebacks but I didn’t loose two centre backs, I found two.

“The lads were fantastic. Not just Aiden and Pricey but all the players in the squad have put in a superb effort and showed real character. I thought Damian Reeves did really well when he came on.

“Kendal were up for it and full credit to them - they were in our faces and outmuscling us, so they deserved their lead.

"It was vital we got that goal before half-time. In the second half, there wasn’t a bad player in my team. In the first half, it would have been hard to pick a good one.”

Hume had endured a torrid few minutes before his early booking but had departed by the time the Cumbrians broke the deadlock.

Avenue keeper Steve Dickinson could only parry an Alex Taylor shot high into the air, and the ball dropped to Danny Wisdom, who was unmarked at the far post and side-footed in on the volley.

Minutes later, Avenue’s defence were all at sea and Stephen Downes conceded a needless corner. It proved expensive because the flag-kick was converted by a free header for Town’s skipper Glen Steel.

Deep into first-half stoppage time, Lee Elam whipped in a superb cross, and Chris Hall guided it into the far corner of the net with his forehead.

Avenue were on terms just seven minutes into the second half.

It was the determination of their own skipper Simon Baldry that set the chance up.

Elam had the first effort, which was blocked, but Hall drilled the rebound back and visiting keeper David Newnes fumbled it on the line and it squirmed under him.

More pressure followed but it was not until the 78th minute that the roof was lifted off Horsfall Stadium. A through ball from Elam was taken in his stride by Reeves and the striker controlled it and continued his run into the area before lashing a shot past the advancing Newnes.

* Bradford Park Avenue’s home game today was marked by a minute’s applause before kick-off in remembrance of supporter Ronnie Bottomley. Ronnie passed away in the week leading up to the game but the club did not want the death of its most vociferous fan to go unnoticed. He was the only fan to feature on the club’s website alongside the pictures of players, rotating week by week as a feature on the home page. Ronnie was a character who could be heard at every home game, and who also travelled to as many away games as he could. He was renowned for his ‘mark ‘em tighter’ and ‘don’t let ‘em score’ remarks. It was also regular for Ronnie to suggest officials and opponents alike were in someway related to Pinky and Perky.