Bradford Park Avenue 2 Altrincham 4

Bradford Park Avenue lost back-to-back games in the Conference North for the first time since the opening week of the season when former boss Lee Sinnott’s Altrincham took all the points from last night's clash.

Having lost 4-2 at Gainsborough Trinity just two days earlier, John Deacey’s men slumped to a home defeat by the same scoreline. Altrincham had not led in the game until the 71st minute but once they got in front they saw out the win.

The start could not have been better for Avenue as they broke the deadlock in just the second minute.

Good work from Paul Walker and Richard Marshall presented a chance for Nicky Boshell to strike and his effort from just outside the area beat Alti keeper Stuart Coburn.

Sinnott’s men hit back to level on the quarter-hour mark after Bradford’s on-loan midfielder Simon Lenighan had conceded a free-kick.

The ball was pumped into the area and former Avenue and Guiseley striker Damien Reeves drilled it in.

Another set-piece led to the home side regaining the lead just after the half-hour.

The free-kick was whipped in by Scott Maxfield, nodded down by Walker and fired in by Jordan Deacey.

Alti were level before the break though, following a sublime piece of skill from Reeves.

A long ball forward to the unmarked striker was gathered and he shot home superbly in the blink of an eye.

While the first half had been entertaining, the second period was dull and listless.

But the visitors battled on and ground out their victory.

They edged in front for the first time when a 25-yard shot from Greg Wilkinson took a heavy deflection off James Knowles and left Park Avenue goalkeeper John Lamb wrong-footed.

Alti doubled their advantage eight minutes later with yet another set-piece.

A Knowles foul on James Walshaw earned the Avenue centre back a yellow card and Nicky Clee rifled the resulting free-kick into the bottom corner.

The win took Sinnott’s men up to second in the table but it dropped Avenue down one place to ninth on goal difference.