Bradford Park Avenue 1, Accrington Stanley 0: Never has a 1-0 victory over superior opposition been so disappointing.

With Lancastrian visitors Accrington Stanley down to nine men, Avenue could have built a commanding lead for the second leg of this League Cup final.

But a nave and frustrating performance saw them grab just a one goal advantage with a performance which left boss Trevor Storton upset.

"It has been a very disappointing game for us," said Storton, who was forced to name assistant Ian Thompson on the bench due to a player shortage.

"We were nave out there and didn't take control of the game. It would have been better to play against 11 men, at least everyone would have known their roles and been able to play their natural game.

"We were missing key players out there and it showed. Dean Calcutt would have torn them apart. It was a nave performance, I was disappointed with the way the midfield worked."

With five players out, Avenue were forced to name a depleted squad which included a season debut for Ian Briggs and Thompson, who has not played competitive football for four years.

The game livened up after just 12 minutes when Accrington keeper Speare, man of the match in the league fixture here last month, was dismissed.

Maxwell was chasing down an Andy Quinn long ball when the keeper leapt out of the area and punched the ball clear.

The linesman stuck his flag up and off went the keeper. Hancock blasted the free-kick over.

But ten-man Stanley pushed forward and the other linesman's flag, this time for off-side, prevented Paul Mullin's headed finish from counting.

Centre-back Neil Bagshaw's left knee went in the scramble before the disallowed goal, with Briggs coming on in midfield as a replacement.

Skilful midfielder Wayne Benn was forced to cover in central defence and his passing skills were missed by an impotent Avenue side for the remainder of the game. The game became a midfield war of the roses, with neither side creating clear opportunities. A clever one-two between Maxwell and Briggs, who lofted a clever ball through for the striker to chase, led to the second dismissal of the evening.

As Maxwell bore down on goal, out rushed the replacement keeper who brought the home striker down on the edge of the box. The linesman flagged again, the referee gave Barrie Hart three minutes to recover from his injury and then duly sent him from the field. Peter Cavanagh took his turn in the number one shirt and Stanely reverted to a one-man attack.

Avenue spent the second-half constantly wasting possession and failing to break down the impressive defensive duo of Steve Halford and Jonathan Smith.

With the crowd beginning to depart, portly full-back James, a Stanley player for four weeks five years ago, popped up to slide home a Jason Maxwell cross and give Avenue the edge for the return fixture on April 30 in Lancashire.