North Ferriby United 2-1 Bradford Park Avenue

North Ferriby showed steely determination as they bounced back from their weekend FA Trophy exit at the hands of Chester with an impressive 2-1 victory over play-off contenders Bradford Park Avenue.

The promotion-chasing visitors had the first real chance at opening the scoring when Richard Marshall sent a rasping effort just wide from the edge of the area, but the Villagers were to seize the advantage with just nine minutes on the clock. Alex Davidson picked out Wayne Brooksby's run to the byline, and Brooksby cut back for Gary Bradshaw to convert in the box, the ball hitting both posts on its way in. Ferriby then had to weather some heavy Avenue pressure; Nicky Boshell's corner grazed Steve Wilson's far post, and the veteran keeper then slid in at the crucial moment to deny Adam Clayton after he had been fed by Rob O'Brien. Just when Billy Heath's men looked to have maintained their advantage into the break, Avenue pulled level with less than a minute of the half to play; Marshall heading in Jordan Deacey's corner at the near post.

Bradshaw nearly restored Ferriby's advantage early in the second period when he fired a loose ball on the turn just over, and at the other end Deacey picked out Marshall to fire a low drive just over from the edge of the box, and shortly afterwards another Marshall drive looked to be on its way past Wilson only to land just wide and strike the stanchion. Wilson made the save as the match as the game entered the final half hour; Avenue sub Aiden Savory had beaten two Ferriby defenders only to see his eventual shot caught by the keeper. Having defended admirably to keep their visitors at bay, Ferriby burst forward to snatch the points with nine minutes to play. New recruit James Bennett came off the bench and threaded a perfectly weighted ball through to Bradshaw, and though Avenue keeper John Lamb blocked his initial effort, Ferriby's top scorer calmly tucked away the rebound. Substitute Curtis Bernard did his best to salvage the tie for the visitors in the dying seconds, his solo run took him into the box but Wilson was able to push his eventual shot around the post and punch away the resulting corner. Ferriby look to make it three straight league wins going into Christmas on Saturday when they travel to Nantwich Town

Man of the Match: Steve Wilson (North Ferriby)

Attendance: 180

Ferriby: Steve Wilson, Ben Morley (Anthony Lloyd, HT), Kevin Larvin, Paul Harsley (James Bennett, 70), Sam Belcher, Sam Denton, Wayne Brooksby (Danny Clarke, 55), Russell Fry, Chris Bolder (c), Gary Bradshaw, Alex Davidson Subs not used: James Williams, Rob Moy

Bradford: John Lamb, Adam Clayton (Aiden Savory, 35), Martin Drury, Jordan Deacey, Nathan Hotte, James Riley, Richard Marshall, Ross Daly, Matty James (Curtis Bernard, 69), Rob O'Brien (c), Nicky Boshell (Michael Duckworth, 79) Subs not used: Billy Law, Dempsey Smith