James Walshaw scored twice against his old club Guiseley
Guiseley legend James Walshaw scored twice against his old club as Bradford (Park Avenue) beat the National League Premier new boys 3-1 at Horsfall Stadium.
It was an end-to-end affair with both teams getting stuck in. Chris Lester struck the post from a Guiseley free kick
After a number of chances, there was a flurry of goals in the final ten minutes of the first half.
Avenue opened the scoring as Walshaw beat the offside trap to slot home past Steven Drench. It was a phenomenal passing move through Alex Pursehouse, Craig King and Paul Marshall, the latter sliding the ball through to Walshaw, who timed his run to perfection and finished clinically into the bottom corner.
Just before the break, Walshaw, who helped the Lions win the NPL Premier Division in 2010, broke the Guiseley line once more to head home his second. Adam Mather won a corner which found its way out to Paul Marshall, who swung in an excellent cross to claim his second assist as Walshaw duly headed home.
Then it was the turn of Guiseley’s former Avenue man to cause some damage, as Nicky Boshell scored an excellent free kick on the stroke of half time, finding the top corner from 20 yards.
The second half was not as lively and as the full time whistle approached, Chib Chilaka got his first goal of pre-season. Some more good build up play from Avenue saw Mather swing a right footed cross in to the back post, which was headed down by Chris Howarth and turned home by Chilaka.
Bradford (Park Avenue): Stewart, Pursehouse (Walker 87), Mather, Dean (R.Marshall 80), Clayton, Ainge (c), King (Howarth 80), Schofield (Turner 64), Walshaw (Chilaka 62), P.Marshall (Potts 64), McDonald (Carole 62).
Guiseley: Drench (E.Hall 79), Hatfield (Bennett 79), Lowe (Parker 64), D.Hall, Lockwood (Atkinson 64), Lawlor, Lester, D.Boshell, Boyes (Porritt 66), Craddock (Crouz 79), N.Boshell.
Referee: Mark Powell
Attendance: 202
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