BRADFORD (Park Avenue)'s three-game unbeaten run came to a crashing end on Saturday as promotion hopefuls Marine put on a strong attacking display to win 4-0 on Merseyside.
Two goals in either half was enough for the hosts to come away with all three points, and it's a victory that has seen the side from Liverpool move up to 2nd in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.
As for Avenue, the gap between themselves and Basford United, the side who sit just above the drop zone, remains three points as Basford's fixture against Marske United was postponed on Saturday.
It didn't take long for Marine to find their groove at Rossett Park as they went ahead just two minutes into contest through Owen Windsor.
The ball fell kindly to the home side's No10 and he drilled a fierce left-footed strike into the far hand corner of Avenue's goal after picking the ball up just inside the visitors' penalty area.
Things got better for the hosts only 13 minutes later when they pounced on a Bradford error to double their lead.
Receiving the ball in midfield, Will Lancaster was pickpocketed by Marine who set about their intense pressing game from the get-go, and from there Bobby Grant raced clear before coolly despatching a left-footed shot beyond the reach of Kieren Flavell.
Avenue then had a golden opportunity to halve the deficit but Edy Maieco and Chinedu Osadebe squandered their chances. The former was put through on goal but out came goalkeeper Bobby Jones to smother his man and make a great save, before Osadebe dragged the rebound wide.
Four minutes after the interval Marine went into a 3-0 lead to take the game away from the Horsfall side, as Owen Robinson clinically placed his strike into the top corner of Flavell's goal.
With Avenue looking for a way back into the contest, the hosts turned their creative flair up another gear and were fully rewarded for their endeavours with a fourth.
A lovely volleyed pass from Sol Solomon was met by Grant for his second goal of the game, as he arrowed his shot into the bottom corner to round off a solid display from the home side.
Despite Saturday's defeat, Avenue can still be proud of their recent form, having claimed seven points out of a possible nine in their previous three league fixtures.
Up next for Danny Whitaker's side is a home game against Stafford Rangers on Saturday with kick-off getting underway at 3pm.
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