Hereford 1 Bradford (Park Avenue) 2

Bradford banked their fourth victory of the season by inflicting a first home defeat on fellow early pacesetter Hereford in front of over 2,600 supporters at Edgar Street.

It was fourth hosting fifth in the Vanarama National North as the Bulls welcomed Avenue in the sixth fixture of the new season and an away win was perfect preparation for the seventh game as Park Avenue host Boston United tomorrow.

Ahead of that game Mark Bower’s side are now third in the table while the Pilgrims are fourth as they dropped from second place following a 2-0 loss at home to Spennymoor Town.

Avenue looked to be in control against an out of sorts Hereford but the Bulls got a late boost when they were awarded a penalty in the penultimate minute. Mark Ross was adjudged to have fouled the home side’s substitute Jamie Bird and Harry White stepped up to send the spot kick past visiting keeper Steve Drench but the visitors saw the game out.

Avenue were two goals to the good after breaking the deadlock midway through the first half and then having a penalty of their own.

Midfielder Conor Branson headed Avenue into a 22nd minute lead and the same player almost doubled the advantage on the hour mark with another bullet header but Bulls keeper Martin Horsell tipped that effort over the bar.

Bower’s assistant Danny Boshell was sent on from the bench in the 76th minute, replacing the hard-working Jamie Spencer, and three minutes later he was fouled in the area by Hereford defender Mike McGrath. Oli Johnson dispatched the spot kick past Horsell.

When the referee pointed to the spot again, Bower was not in agreement and he said: “We got two up and then the referee has just decided to even it up. Their lad boots it out of play and then just runs into Rossy (Mark Ross).

“I was pleased with the result and the players overall because I thought it was the classic away performance for about an hour. Then we took control of it.

"The first half had been a little bit frustrating and I said to the players at half-time that we’d had 25 per cent of the game but should have been 3-0 up.

“Second half we restricted them to very little but we couldn’t really ease off and rest a few which is key on a bank holiday weekend when you’ve got another game coming up 48 hours later.

“It’s going to be tough against a team as good as Boston because we had to go right to the end in this game. We’ve got a few older legs in the dressing room and another game so soon is not ideal but we’ll see how the players are and hopefully we can continue the good form we’re in.”