A FORMER Bradford City striker did the damage for Harrogate Town in last night's West Riding County Cup Second Round clash, as his double saw the North Yorkshire side come from behind to beat Bradford (Park Avenue) 2-1.

Isaiah Bazeley scored a fine solo goal to put visitors Avenue in front, but Jon Stead, who was on loan at the Bantams in 2014 and 2015, famously scoring in their FA Cup wins over Premier League sides Chelsea and Sunderland, was having none of it.

He equalised almost immediately after the restart, before scoring a second half penalty to send Harrogate into the third round.

The break in league action meant that Avenue boss Mark Bower could take a look at fringe players, as well as naming three academy scholars in the line up in Josh Mayfield, Joe Ockerby and Jamie Lyons.

Meanwhile, Harrogate named eight senior players in their starting XI.

Avenue started well, forcing a good save from Harrogate’s stopper, Joe Cracknell, in the seventh minute.

Jack Emmet nearly opened the scoring for the home side in the 13th minute, hitting the post with a good curled effort inside the box.

Avenue went in front after a quarter of an hour. It was an excellent run from Aston Villa loanee Bazeley, who burst past his marker into the box and slotted the ball home to put his side 1-0 up.

The lead did not last long, as Town responded by scoring only a minute later. Stead received the ball on the right side of the box and he fired a strike across goal, out of the reach of Avenue keeper Joe Green.

Both sides continued to seek a lead throughout the half and it was Bradford that looked strongest towards the break, with the Harrogate players having to block a number of shots to keep the teams level.

The attacking nature of the contest continued into the second half, with both sides looking to get on to the front foot.

Bradford should have gone ahead in the 68th minute, when Lewis Knight was unable to find the net from just a few yards out following a low cross from the right.

A handball in the 70th minute saw Avenue fall behind, as Stead stepped up to secure his brace from the spot, shooting low to Green’s right.

Avenue continued to press for the remaining 20 minutes, but were reduced to ten men following a heavy challenge that forced Joe Ockerby to leave the field with an injury after all three substitutes were used.

Harrogate then used their one man advantage to see out the game and progress to the next round.