BRADFORD (Park Avenue) picked up their first victory in four games on Tuesday night, to take some pressure off their shoulders ahead of the season’s closure.

Avenue were facing another of their bottom rivals in Blyth Spartans and they were able to put on a clinical away display to take a 3-1 victory and maximum points, with strikes coming from Harrison Hopper, Richman and Lewis Knight.

Coming into the fixture, the Bradford side were chasing some much needed confidence following the narrow defeats in their previous two fixtures against Gloucester City and Curzon Ashton respectively, and a first half blitz ensured Bower’s men would be put at ease on this occasion.

It didn’t take long for BPA to take control of proceedings, as Hopper broke the deadlock on minute 14.

Knight-hounded by the defence, managed to get a shot on goal but a deflection sent the ball spinning towards Hopper’s feet, and he hit a thunderous strike into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

Richman made it 2-0 15 minutes later after latching onto a ball from the goal-scorer, Hopper and the game looked to be dead and buried when Knight made it 3-0 four minutes before the interval, sending the Avenue bench and supporters into raptures.

Blyth did pull one back on the counter with two minutes from time, but it was not to take anything away from the dominant display that Bower's side produced.

Ahead of Avenue's trip to Gateshead on Saturday, this result can only bode well for the confidence of the squad, given the results in recent weeks.

It also offered Bradford some respite and breathing space above the drop zone.