Match Report: Bradford Park Avenue 1-1 Ashton United

Ashton’s latest encounter on a plastic surface resulted in another draw which was probably a fair reflection of the play.

With Captain Nathan Lowe still suspended and Mitchell Rose absent Brad Abbott was handed a start in midfield and it was his pass in the first minute which led to a wayward effort from winger Alex Byrne.

The winger should certainly have done better on 4 minutes as Sean Newton’s long clearance saw him lob a glorious chance over the top and still in the first 5 minutes a break by Benny Couto saw his shot palmed out by Flavell, eventually reaching Byrne who hit the inside of the post. Abbott’s chip into the area then found Jason Gilchrist helping the ball goalwards with O’Malley clearing before Lancaster picked up a loose ball and fired just wide from 25 yards.

Centre forward Osadebe then took too long on O’Malley’s pass and was denied by Cooper with Maieco steering the rebound wide. 3 minutes past the half hour mark Jake Charles saw yellow for a strong challenge on Odunston and Osadebe’s pullback saw Maieco bring a fingertip save out of Cooper as the interval arrived with the scoreline somehow blank.

8 minutes after the restart Couto’s left wing cross brought a reaction save out of Flavell with Hardy’s follow up attempt blocked and Byrne’s right wing cross saw Gilchrist denied close in. Just past the hour a 3rd consecutive corner from Couto held up on the wind allowing Gilchrist to head it home at the near post and Byrne’s latest cross saw Hardy’s shot cleared right off the goal line by O’Malley. The importance of this was emphasized 2 minutes later as the Robins’ defence dwelt in possession and the ball bounced up perfectly for sub Jake Daniels to rifle it home from 22 yards.

With 5 minutes left and Avenue pushing for a winner Maieco’s effort was pushed away for a corner and Daniels next effort was scraped away by Cooper before a deep cross saw Preston’s header hit the side netting.