Hereford 1-1 Bradford (Park Avenue)

IF Avenue are to avoid relegation from the Vanarama National League North, they needed to stop their six-match losing streak and that happened on a windy afternoon, witnessed by 1586, in Hereford.

Although, Mark Bower’s men will carry mix emotions on the three-hour journey back from Edgar Street after they had opportunities to both win and lose the match.

The Avenue boss would have been disappointed to not have former Bradford City loanee Reece Staunton to call upon with his stay being cut short by the Bantams earlier this week.

In stepped Mitch Lund at left back who was busy at both ends of the pitch, Oli Johnson coming in for Tom Clare was the only other change for the visitors.

Poor starts are worryingly beginning to become a theme for Bradford, after conceding within 45 seconds against Boston last week, it was the third minute that their opposition struck this time out.

Jason Pope was the man causing early heartbreak, firing a low finish through a crowed area past Joe Green who would have been disappointed with his efforts.

The away side did not drop their heads though and almost equalised seven minutes later when Johnson was played through by Adam Nowakowski, although he spurred his chance wide.

The striker looked like he had a point to prove as he urgently chased down every lost cause to put in a real shift for his side.

Green did redeem himself from his somewhat mistake by saving a goal bound Alex Bray effort after the Bradford defence failed to close the midfielder down.

The visitors did level two minutes later when Nicky Clee netted his second goal in as many games, mopping up at the back stick with a smashed half volley.

Hereford had only won one league match in 12 and it showed as they relentlessly punted it forward hoping pacey striker Victor Sodiende could latch onto it.

You have seen David Beckham and Wayne Rooney score from the half way line, well Clee almost joined those star studied names with an audacious lob from over 50 yards out which just flew wide.

The home faithful continued to grow frustrated with another long punt leading to the excellent Liam Hughes having to intervene and clear.

It seemed like Russell Slade had a few stern words to say at the break as his team came out on the front foot.

Sodiende had a glorious opportunity to put his side in front after outpacing Billy Priestley to force a one on one, chipping his effort over the onrushing Green and the bar.

The Bulls were awarded a penalty when Lund mistakenly shot his clearance up in the air leading to Sodiende running at Priestley again.

The forward, on loan from Nottingham Forest, was too quick for the experienced defender who brought him down and would have been given his marching orders if the double jeopardy rule had not been in placed.

Up stepped the man involved in winning the penalty, blasting his strike onto the post, a stroke of much-needed luck for Bradford.

The game changed with the introduction of the returning Lewis Knight, the pacey forward reinvigorated his side when he came on in the 70th minute.

The 20-year-old almost created a goal for Johnson whose swivelled strike was saved by man of the match Will Henry before Lund’s curling effort was turned away.

Bower and the dozen or so travelling Avenue fans thought they had grabbed all three points in the last two minutes, Knight went on a marauding run starting in his own half to produce an unbelievable save from Henry.

The home side were booed off at the final whistle by their demanding supporters while there were certainly positives to take away from the trip down to the midlands for Bradford as they reduced the gap between them and Curzon Ashton to 11 points.

However, today’s wasted chances may come back to haunt them as it was the perfect opportunity to gain their fourth victory of the campaign against a fellow relegation struggler.