Altrincham 3, Bradford Park Avenue 1

Former Bradford City defender Lee Sinnott was the happier man as he came face to face with his former assistant and banked three points at the expense of one of the clubs he used to manage.

'Sinbad' came up against ex-number two John Deacey in Cheshire as Altrincham hosted Bradford Park Avenue in Blue Square Bet North.

There was more heartache for Avenue as Damian Reeves, who was at Avenue when Sinnott was boss, bagged himself a match-winning brace.

Reeves was soon into the action as he opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a cheeky back- heel after a cross was nodded down to him.

Midway through the first half, the home side doubled their lead, Nicky Clee netting an unstoppable free-kick from over 20 yards.

Avenue responded and manger’s son Jordan Deacey forced Alty keeper Stuart Coburn into a smart save before Richard Marshall struck the bar with a shot from outside the area on the stroke of half- time.

The visitors were buoyed by their positive finish to the first half and started the second in similar fashion.

They signalled their intentions when Paul Walker played Danny Holland in, only for the striker to fire over the target but Avenue soon went one better when Marshall netted a superb free-kick.

Sinnott’s side reacted to having their lead halved but Deacey had an ace or two up his sleeve and introduced Alex Davidson and Tom Greaves from the bench. Both Bradford substitutes went close to finding an equaliser.

However, in stoppage time, it was Reeves who widened the smile on Sinbad’s face as the striker controlled a cross and neatly chipped the Avenue keeper to make it look like a comfortable victory.

Avenue’s press officer Lewis Sale said: “That is three defeats in a row but John (manager Deacey) is not panicking - he’s more frustrated than annoyed. All in all it’s another disappointment but only because we were unable to make our chances count.

“It is the FA Cup next week so that could work in our favour, not having to worry about taking three points.”