Bradford (Park Avenue) picked up their first point of the season on the road to Kettering Town, thanks to a late goal from versatile midfielder Adam Nowakowski.

The Avenue were defeated by recently relegated King’s Lynn Town last Saturday, but Mark Bower’s side kick-started their season with a solid draw against a Kettering side predicted to struggle this campaign.

Nowakowski, who pleased supporters by signing on for Bradford for just a pound a game, netted a composed finish in the 80th minute.

Bradford also confirmed the permanent addition of young defender Reece Staunton ahead of kick-off, whilst striker Eddie Church was missing due to an injury.

Kettering nearly broke through earlier on after a foul on Jordan Graham, but the resulting free-kick was latched onto and shot narrowly wide by Harry Reilly.

The Poppies continued looking for the breakthrough as some good trickery from Andrew Oluwabori saw his cross find Rhys Sharpe, whose half-volley narrowly evaded the top corner.

Heading into the second half, Kettering continued to look dangerous attacking, as Oluwabori and Graham came close to testing former Bradford City goalkeeper George Sykes-Kenworthy.

But with the Poppies continuing to push for an opener, Kettering clinched it. Oluwabori continued to be a menace to the Park Avenue defence, cheekily nutmegging Luca Havern before hammering the ball past a helpless Sykes-Kenworthy.

Kettering’s lead was short-lived however, as Nowakowski levelled the score. Some good work down the right hand side before a low cross found the towering midfielder who calmly tapped home past Cameron Gregory in goal.

The good news continued for Bradford following the full-time whistle, with the club confirming that manager Mark Bower and assistant manager Danny Boshell had signed contract extensions to continue their enjoyable stay at the Horsfall Stadium.

Bower, Boshell and Bradford are next in action on Tuesday night, making the journey to newly promoted side Scarborough Athletic, who defeated the Avenue in a pre-season friendly last season. l GABRIEL RAMSEY