last year, at the end of October
Where the pieces fall - Bradford City 1 Bury 0 - League Two
The ball would not drop.
It held in mid-air like the frost had clung to Bradford’s trees this first Winter morning and took time to come down to the crisp grass of Valley Parade.
Later it would fall to Barry Conlon - of course to Barry Conlon - who would stand straight and head past Wayne Brown. Allowing Conlon to head past him was the only one thing the man in the Bury goal did wrong all evening but a half hour before that moment it would be Michael Boulding trying to take down a looped cross from Peter Thorne and - when on his own in the middle of the penalty area - control and convert the chance.
The chance had come when Brown had sprinted back to his line to scoop away a back pass by David Buchanan which had seemed to be going into the visitors goal. Boulding’s pressure had forced the error but that would be no consolation as the ball steadfastly refused to sit up to be struck hanging in the air from Thorne’s cross.
Wins, promotions are made of such things.
This phrase seems to be commonly uttered at Valley Parade of late as the Bantams slump - the dire Bantams of Darlington eight days ago - nestle in to second place in the table with 14 games gone. If promotions are made of late goals and of the late goals that Conlon seems to have more of a hand in then they are also made of characterful performances where the Bantams ground out that rarest of things - a home win against an opposition who would have been happy with a point.
Happy and deserved. Bury were a desent side who came to Valley Parade with a game plan to anchor the midfield and hit on the break. After a half where City edged the game once the mismash of players had started to build an understanding of each other the Bantams began to convert possession into chances.
Nicky Law Jnr came in on the right wing for the injured Joe Colbeck and offered little going forward but his attitude and approach was typical of a City performance which ensured that despite some interesting probing by The Shakers the defensive line remained solid and from that came the win.
Bit by bit in a first half City took more and more control of possession in the game. Tom Clarke - in for Matt Clarke - looked to have a head beyond his years and put not a foot wrong. As the game wore on into the second half Luke O’Brien would become more and more important as a distribution outlet and as a capable defender. His current form would keep Paul Heckingbottom out of the side.
From Boulding’s chance onwards City mounted attack on attack save sporadic meanders forward by the visitors with Dean Furman’s deep role allowing him to control the passage of possession and Paul McLaren probing forward. Law’s right wing role did not offer the outlet of Colbeck and City struggled to breakdown Bury but with the lion’s share of the ball the game was the Bantams to win.
A free kick for an arm in Furman’s face dummied by McLaren and struck with hitherto unpredicted venom by Graeme Lee and the ball pinged up into the air looping down to the waiting head of Conlon who after scoring joined the rest of Valley Parade in expecting referee Mr Friend to be anything but but tellingly as his central defenders were booked for complaining Wayne Brown said nothing.
The goalkeeper twice watching how the pieces fell in front of him. Two similar situations, two different outcomes.
Colbeck’s injury could keep him out for months, Daley is suspended for Saturday and Peter Thorne took a whack and could join Mark Bower, Lee Bullock and Chris Brandon on the sidelines. Like all managers Stuart McCall’s test is to make the best of the pieces that fall to him and second after fourteen games he would seem to be making a good fist of that.
October 29th, 2008 at 10:34
What about special mention to Furman. Easily the best individual display of the season. He was absolutely everywhere and won the ball back for City on so many occasions it was hard to keep count. The lad is undroppable and his energy is incredible.
Did my ears deceive me or where there rumbles of discontent directed by certain sections towards Boulding. How idiotic! People around me were slagging him off for not scoring his second half chance. What the hell was he meant to do, there was no way he could have beaten the keeper with a header as the ball dropped straight down from the sky and then there was no way he could have got the shot away while it was over waist height. I thought Boulding did a decent job and always looked to get into dangerous positions. His goals will come he still looks class.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:30
Last season we would have lost this game!
Last night the defence were very strong against one of the better strikers in the division. I thought Lee was superb, and thankfully back to form after a dip, and his free-kick that led to the goal was an absolute pile-driver. I’m surprised now that he hasn’t taken them before from that position.
Again the other results went well for us. A win on Saturday sets us up nicely for a top-two clash at Wycombe in the next game.
Can anyone tell me when the pass-back rule was changed to allow a keeper to handle the ball on the line and stop it going in from a wayward back-pass (not a deflection or poor clearance)? I didn’t see any City players complaining to the ref after the incident and was wondering if I had imagined it.
October 29th, 2008 at 13:06
Aside from the second half against Exeter, I can’t think of a better home performance this season. I thought that we used the ball well and made a good side look quite ordinary. Clarke was excellent at the back, Furman was everywhere and the team seemed to perform pretty well as a unit. Off hand, I can’t remember many nervy moments at all, and this against a side with a fantastic away record to date.
Great to see Baz get the winner and the ridiculous booing seems to have stopped for now. It was also the first time this season where the crowd hasn’t started whining when we’ve failed to break the opposition down and the players seemed to respond to this; perhaps the usual boo boys can take note and get behind the team a bit more?
A final point: it’s very easy to criticise referees (and prior criticisms on these pages have been fully justified) but, on the whole, I thought the ref did a good job last night.
Outright second without properly hitting form yet…things are looking good.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:48
Totally agree with John Blakey’s comments, Furman was outstanding in the engine room and one of the best displays I have seen from a City midfielder in recent history! He made a least six “once a game” tackles that got the defence out of a few precarious positions.
I also thought Boulding was excellent; things just didn’t drop for him. He remained a constant outlet for City when the long ball was resorted to and did a tremendous shift for the team. If he had headed the ball when Thorne presented him that chance, it wouldn’t have had enough power to trouble my Grandmother, let alone a professional keeper. The fact that Boulding has the self-confidence in his ability to bring the ball down and then shoot, shows a player who is fully capable of becoming our top talisman come 2nd May. His finishes against Grimsby and Accrington were undeniably superb and I can only hope that he does not become the next target of the VP Boo-boy’s!
When Lee’s shot cannoned of the bar in the 85th minute, I watched the referee in anticipation of a free kick being rewarded. However, he purposely ran in from the edge of the box and created the perfect angle for him to determine whether Conlon’s leap was an offence. Well done Mr Friend!