Almondsbury 0, Bradford Town 2

JUBILANT skipper Ricky Trott believes a lads' night helped Bradford break their depressing nine-game losing streak on Saturday.

Trott and his Trowbridge Road team-mates hit the town after last week's home defeat to Backwell and came back feeling a little worse for wear.

But if every hangover brings with it three league points the following week then Trott and Bradford will happily keep the ale flowing.

He said: "After the Backwell game the lads agreed we should visit a few pubs around Bradford.

"We had a few beers and then we played some drinking games. We'll have to do it again this weekend if it brings another performance like the one against Almondsbury."

Trott was inspirational at the heart of the Bradford defence as the visitors completed a Toolstation League double over their Bristol hosts.

Steve Roddy hit a second-half brace to take his tally for the season to 11 goals and give Bradford some breathing space at the foot of the First Division table.

Trott revealed he had a good feeling about this fixture at The Field even before the game kicked off.

He said: "We've had some good results against Almondsbury in the past and I knew we could give them a game.

"When I looked around the changing room I saw a much stronger team than in recent weeks, with players back from injury and suspension.

"It's been a difficult few weeks after a good start to the season, but the lads deserved the win on Saturday for the way they stuck at it.

"It was nice to keep a clean sheet and to get a win for Mark (Hodkinson, manager) and Andy (O'Pray, assistant) because they have both been brilliant."

Larkhall Athletic 3, Bradford Town 0

BRADFORD came crashing back to earth with a bump on Wednesday when they were soundly beaten at Plain Ham.

Goals from Simon Gilbert, Chris Tricker and Jack Moon gave the Larks a convincing 3-0 win in a scrappy First Division encounter.

It could have been so different had Steve Roddy's early strike not been cleared off the line.

The Bradford striker also struck a post as the visitors slipped to their 10th defeat in 11 league matches.

"I thought we played well in patches, but once again silly mistakes cost us," said manager Mark Hodkinson.

"It was not the best of games to watch. We know they like to pass it around so we tried to get in their faces.

"It worked to a degree because they had to play the long ball, but a bit of naivitycost us in the end," he said.