Bradford Park Avenue v Stafford Rangers

REPORT

This key clash at the bottom of the table went the way of home side Bradford Park Avenue thanks to a penalty midway through the second half. Despite both sides desperately needing points to boost their relegation fight, this was a dour encounter with the lack of quality reflecting the league positions.

There wasn’t much to choose between the two teams, who both struggled to create chances. The best fell to Bradford’s Chinedu Osadebe in the 16th minute when he went clear on goal but Cam Belford managed to stick out a foot to deflect the shot wide

Rangers made one change from the side that beat Guiseley with AJay Leitch-Smith replacing Connor Heath in the starting line up but the move didn’t give manager Dave Cooke the result he was looking for and Leitch-Smith made way for Tyreece Onyeka after the break.

A couple of minutes after he had headed wide from an inswinging free kick, Osadebe should have put the home side ahead when he was put clear by Harry Colville only for Belford to keep his goal intact. Around 10 minutes later, Colville went wide as he ran in to volley a flick from Jordan Preston.

Goal mouth action remained at a premium and Will Lancaster was forced to try his luck from distance after dispossessing Owen German but Belford parried away for a corner.

It took Rangers half an hour to show any kind of threat to the Bradford goal. Kaiman Anderson fired over after Joe Willis’ initial shot had been blocked, then, in the final moments of the half, German had a shot saved by Kieran Flavell, Sean Cooke almost beat the home keeper with a free kick to the near post and Ethan Stewart headed wide from a free kick.

The interval probably came at the wrong time for Rangers as their momentum had gone when the second half kicked off but they did have a great chance when Cooke’s free kick found Onyeka at the back post but somehow the Stafford substitute failed to find the target.

The decisive moment in the game came on 66 minutes with a good ball into the area from Bradford midfielder Lancaster. Lewis Hey went to ground as he came into contact with Ethan Stewart and referee Paul Roots pointed to the spot. Protests from Stafford made no difference and Preston just beat Belford at his right hand post.

Cooke missed a great chance to level the scores when his header found the side netting from Heath’s deep centre and Willis was unable to keep his shot down after Cooke had hooked the ball back into the Bradford area.

The last chance to salvage something from a drab afternoon fell to Cooke in added time. Although his free kick was on target, Flavell comfortably turned the ball over the bar to condemn Rangers to defeat.

Bradford: 1 Kieran Flavell, 2 Harrison Hooper (14 Jacob Lara 76m), 3 Mason O’Malley, 4 Will Lancaster, 5 Jak Whiting, 6 Ryley D’Sena, 7 Edy Maieco, 8 Lewis Hey, 9 Chinedu Osadebe (15 Adrien Thibaut 70m), 10 Jordan Preston, 11 Harry Colville. Unused Subs 12 Leon Johnson, 16 Bradley Coldwell, 17 Ted Lavelle

Stafford Rangers: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Jack Stafford, 4 Owen German, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Isaac Lee (16 Lewis Porter 81m), 7 Ben Woods (12 Connor Heath 68m), 8 Joe Willis, 9 Kaiman Anderson, 10 Sean Cooke, 11 AJay Leitch-Smith (14 Tyreece Onyeka 46m). Unused Subs: 13 Jack Sandel, 15 George Burroughs

Referee: Paul Roots

Cautions: None

Att: 851

Report by Chris Elsley