PADDY Sykes has found himself in unfamiliar territory at Bradford (Park Avenue) this season.
A free-scoring striker with Campion over the last few years, he has struggled for goals since moving to Horsfall.
But perhaps it was nothing to do with the step up in quality from the Northern Counties East League Premier Division to the Northern Premier League East Division.
Instead, with Avenue playing a more direct style under new manager Craig Elliott, Sykes’ confidence in front of goal is growing again.
He scored in Elliott’s first game in the dugout, an FA Trophy victory at Witton Albion, then netted in the 3-2 West Riding County Cup win at Golcar United.
And now, finally, he has netted his first league goal for the club, scoring in Wednesday night’s superb 3-0 win at play-off rivals Stocksbridge Park Steels.
It means Sykes is brimming with confidence ahead of a home game against strugglers Sheffield FC this afternoon.
He told the T&A: “It’s been frustrating so far, because I’ve scored quite a lot of goals over the last few years at Campion, but it’s not really happened for me here in that sense.
“I know as a striker, I’m going to be judged on scoring goals, so it’s nice to get off the mark in the league and hopefully kick on now.”
There have been wholesale changes at Avenue since Elliott replaced Danny Whitaker at the helm around six weeks ago, with captain Connor Dimaio and genuine goalscoring threat Kelan Swales leaving the club, while strong, defensive-minded trio Mark Beevers, Ben Blythe and Elie Ikwa have all joined.
Sykes might have feared becoming a victim of Elliott’s great reset, but instead it has suited him.
He said: “It’s been really good since Craig came in and you can see the stamp he’s tried to put on the squad
“The way we’re trying to play has been a shift from what we were doing at the start of the season, and it probably suits me a bit more now.
“This is the way I like to play, so I think I fit into this system a bit better.
“I’m grateful that Craig and (assistant manager) Vill Powell have shown faith in me and given me a chance.
“Hopefully I can repay them and go on a goalscoring run now.”
Expanding on the change in style and how that has benefitted him, Sykes said: “We’re just a bit more direct now, which is what I’m used to and how we played at Campion over the past few years.
“Before Craig came in, we were more of a possession-based team, which was something I was trying to adjust to.”
Avenue’s current run of three successive wins and clean sheets under Elliott is hopefully helping to consign memories of their inconsistent start this season to the dustbin.
The BD6 outfit now sit just a point off the play-offs and will be backing themselves to move into them this weekend by beating second-bottom Sheffield, who have only won one of their opening 10 league games.
Sykes said: “Ultimately, we all want to be challenging at the top end of the league, and we’ve been playing catch-up after a difficult start.
“But as I said, Craig’s really started to put his stamp on things now.
“It’s a good opportunity to kick on now with a couple of home games (Avenue also host ninth-placed Carlton Town on Tuesday night), where we can try and progress and get into those play-off places.”
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