BRADFORD (Park Avenue) suffered a crushing 5-1 defeat at Brighouse Town in the second round of the West Riding County Cup, with their makeshift side struggling to match the glories of this season's first team regulars.

Brighouse made a fine start and were 2-0 up inside eight minutes after a pair of fabulous goals. Gabriel Johnson whipped a free-kick into the top corner to give them the lead, before Marley Grant finished off a slick counter attack.

Teenage goalkeeper Jack Atkinson made a stunning save from point blank range to deny Mohammed Ibrahim before Brighouse stopper Matt Smith produced a brilliant double stop to deny Ben McKenna and Adam Nowakowski.

Ibrahim soon threaded a shot into the bottom corner to make it 3-0, but Bradford replied instantly after Nowakowski turned in player/assistant manager Danny Boshell's cross.

Other than Ibrahim having a goal disallowed for offside, Avenue dominated the rest of the first period. Smith made a couple of good saves before Nowakowski smashed a shot off the crossbar, which bounced down on the goal line.

Teenager Alex Hurst was proving a threat up front, while fellow youngster Devon Ridley gave an assured performance at the back.

A quiet second half, with some solid defensive play from either side, sparked into life when substitute Jack Normanton steered the ball past Atkinson to restore Town's three-goal advantage.

Smith continued to produce between the sticks for Bradford, but with Boshell having to leave the pitch through injury, a fifth goal felt inevitable.

James Hurtley headed the ball down into Ibrahim's path and he rattled home his second to round off an emphatic scoreline.

A fantastic effort from Brighouse saw them progress into the third round, but Avenue's youngsters earned some valuable experience, with seven scholars from the Horsfall College of Sport in the matchday squad.