A BUOYANT Mark Bower was proud of his Bradford (Park Avenue) side in their 2-2 draw at Spennymoor Town.

Lewis Knight had given the visitors a first half lead then an end-to-end final 12 minutes saw three goals and a sending off.

Already booked Ryan Toulson was the guilty party, clashing with Glen Taylor. Although, the referee handed the Avenue player-coach a straight red to what he deemed as a kick out.

Before that Knight had cancelled out Ryan Hall's equaliser within a couple of minutes.

Taylor glanced to level matters shortly after, and the 10-men held out for a cracking point away from home.

Bower said: "We took the lead early on, which has been a thing for us in away games this season.

"Last time we played Spennymoor (3-1 defeat in the FA Cup), we caved in a little bit and conceded another two.

"So I was really pleased with the players reaction to get back up off the canvas and respond with a goal of our own.

"The red card has an impact on the rest of the game. Taylor pulled Tully back, he was trying to get away and he has caught him with his leg. We will have to look back at it on the video.

"Dan (Atkinson) has been brilliant for us and will be a bit disappointed that he hasn’t kept that one (the second goal) out.

"Sometimes you feel it coming, like in the FA Cup game, but today I felt confident in the lads that they could see it through.

"We have more than matched, if not bettered, one of the best teams in the league.

"To come away unbeaten from two of the best teams in the league (Darlington 1-0 win on Tuesday and Spennymoor), it is testament to those players in the dressing room."

The Park Avenue manager was also keen to heap praise onto his frontman.

He added: "We identified we were not going to win too many balls in the air but we could utilise the space in behind them.

"Lewis has got pace to burn and he showed that. We wanted him to improve his end product, there was more composure from him today.

"It is a difficult job for any player to do (playing as a lone striker), especially when we go down to 10 men. He worked hard and produced two nice finishes."