Goole Town 5 Bradford Park Avenue 3

Avenue did not make it over the first hurdle in the FA Cup as they were dumped out by rampant Goole in a high-scoring match.

The almost gale force wind meant it was never going to be a classic encounter but it is the Avenue defenders who face being blown out after a very poor display as they found themselves 4-0 down by the 41st minute.

Goole had won the toss and elected to have the elements in their favour - and they took full advantage of that in the first period, with Avenue only gaining a foothold by pegging a goal back just before the break.

Any hope that was nurtured by that strike was swiftly erased as Goole scored within minutes of the second period getting underway and two late goals for Avenue did nothing other than make the figures look respectable.

The home side netted in the 11th minute through Chris Tate and three goals in a nine-minute spell then effectively killed the contest.

Andy Jackson started the flood just after the half-hour mark and Tate then grabbed his second before Paul Palmer's 41st-minute strike.

Liam Flynn hit a shot from the corner of the area to lift Avenue's spirits at the interval and when striker Neil Ross scored midway through the second half, Avenue were still 5-2 down. Ross added a third in the last minute.

The result cost Avenue pride, self-esteem against one of their UniBond Division One rivals and £1,000 in prize money.

Assistant boss Clive Freeman insisted they realised the pitfalls and said: "We knew it was always going to be a very tough game and didn't underestimate them one little bit.

"We just defended like a pub team, to be honest, and that isn't good enough. You can't do that in the FA Cup or the league. After 42 minutes there was only one side that had turned up.

"Phil (manager Sharpe) and myself were surprised and very disappointed. We'd won three out of four games before that, so it had been a very positive start to the season."

Freeman added: "It was a good toss to win. We knew we would be up against it but if we could turn round 1-0 down, or even 2-0, it would still give us a chance in the second half.

"We feared the worst at four down but then we got back into it with Flynny's goal and we needed a good start to the second half.

"But what happens? We concede in the first couple of minutes and you could have sent everyone home there and then.

"Rossy's two late goals didn't fool anyone; the last was in the last minute. If we had got it back to 5-3 with 15 minutes to go, I might have got a bit more excited.

"No complaints, Goole are a very good side and, on the day, they had us beaten all ends up."

  • Avenue will not have the chance to get the defeat out of their systems quickly, as another high-scoring FA Cup tie robed them of a league game tonight.
They should have hosted Eastwood Town at Horsfall Stadium but that has been shelved as Eastwood drew 5-5 with Bromsgrove and must replay this week.

Eastwood had trailed 4-1 at home to Bromsgrove at one point.