AN impressive 4-1 win against ten-man York City took Bradford (Park Avenue) joint top of the Vanarama National League North on a drama packed day at the summit.

Leaders Chorley stumbled yet again with a 2-1 home defeat to Spennymoor Town, while high-flying Kidderminster Harriers were humbled 4-1 against Southport.

Avenue had no such disaster, and went ahead in their last ever league game at Bootham Crescent when Jake Beesley netted a 26th minute penalty.

It was awarded after York skipper Joe Tait had tangled with the Avenue striker following a corner. The referee showed the defender a straight red card, to the fury of his team-mates.

It was a bitter blow for the home side who had started well and had a penalty appeal of their own waved away.

City reshuffled after the dismissal, with Hamza Bencherif replacing Alex Harris, while they brought on veteran striker Jon Parkin to replace Jake Wright at the break.

That attacking change proved fruitless, as Avenue opened up a three-goal lead straight after the interval.

Beesley netted his second when he slotted in Lewis Knight's low cross and Jamie Spencer scored Avenue’s third with a spectacular 25 yard strike.

The home side grabbed a goal back through Sean Newton but Bradford were soon back on top.

Substitute Ben McKenna netted following a corner but it was ruled out for offside. The forward was not to be denied though and he wrapped up the scoring late on.

Knight's ball across the edge of the area was perfect and McKenna met it without breaking stride and steered a shot into the top corner.

A delighted Mark Bower, who enjoyed two loan spells with the Minstermen as a player, said: “Winning 4-1 is fantastic when you go to a place like York with the quality of players they have, but the obvious turning point was the red card.

“They had probably started slightly better than us but I thought we posed a threat on the counter attack and then the red card changes the game.

"It was a lack of discipline from their lad and that sometimes happens when you’re under pressure and that might have come into it.

“But you have to capitalise on that and I thought Bees (Beesley) did well keeping his composure.

“They played to their strengths in the second half with Parkin and (Jordan) Burrow up front and we had to be patient but it worked.

"It was massive for us to score the penalty because it’s not just about them being down to ten men because at 1-0 down they had to come at us and that means that there are usually gaps to exploit.”

Avenue are back in action tomorrow when they travel to Brighouse Town for a West Riding County Cup second round tie.