BRADFORD (Park Avenue) all but confirmed that they would be playing National League North football next season after settling for a goalless stalemate with near-neighbours Guiseley.

Mark Bower’s side are 12 points clear of the drop zone with 12 left to play for, so a draw in their next match would confirm their survival, but the Lions aren’t in such a settled place themselves, as they sit three points off safety.

Giving his thoughts on the game after the match, Bower said: “We should have won it in the end, but for large spells I thought Guiseley were on top.

“They were direct and we never really got too much control in the game, but we always carried a threat on the break.

“It looked like they’d either score from a set-piece or we’d score from a counter.

“I thought we started well in the first 10 minutes, but after that it became scrappy, and a game that suited them more than us.

“I thought we defended their set-pieces well, and we saw it out, got through a game where they’d been on top, and had chances to win it.”

There were few opportunities throughout the first half.

Former Lions attacker Oli Johnson did come close to a breakthrough from a corner, but Mansfield Town loanee Owen Mason reacted well to keep the forward out.

George Sykes-Kenworthy has been receiving plaudits recently for his impressive performances, with five clean sheets in his last six outings, but the former Bradford City goalkeeper was untroubled when he saw John Johnstone’s effort flash wide of the target.

Heading into the second half, Avenue looked to break the deadlock immediately from a corner but Dylan Mottley-Henry saw his nodded effort skim wide of the target.

Johnstone looked the most likely to score for the Lions and nearly did so on the hour mark, as the former Salford City man hammered an effort over from close range.

The winger continued in his involvements, terrorising down the right wing before firing narrowly wide of Sykes-Kenworthy.

Brad Dockerty has had a memorable campaign under Bower so far, and looked to nick the game late on but Mason was on hand to smother his low, driven strike.

And as a crowd of just under 1,000 began to depart the Horsfall Stadium, the referee brought the game of few chances to its conclusion with the spoils shared.

Guiseley are next in action on Saturday, welcoming Curzon Ashton to Nethermoor, while Bradford make the long trip to Hereford.

Farsley Celtic are at Chester on Saturday, and they moved five points clear of the drop on Easter Monday by beating play-off chasing Southport 2-0.