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Bradford City Youth 3 Marine Youth 2 At Valley Parade in The FA Youth Cup First Round, 2011/2012

Ten seconds into his first game at Valley Parade central midfielder Scott Brown has played a killer ball forward, ten seconds later Thomas Marshall had been fed with a flick and cut the ball in from the left, eyes sighted on goal. As far as statements of intent go – and as an illustration of the pattern of the game – it was unequivocal from the Bantams but Marshall’s shot edged wide and so was the evening set.

That the final whistle blew two hours later with City taking the best of five goals and with Marine having a man sent off understates a display of attacking football from the Young Bantams which took the breath away.

Youth football is a different beast to the senior game. It seems that attacking flair develops before defensive certitude and so games have a tenancy to favour forward players. Even with that in mind the home side came attacked with an expansive abandon that set one on the edge of one’s seat. Adam Baker – a player on the bring of the first team squad – dropped off to link the forward line with the midfield flicking the ball into the path of on running wingers Marshall and Forrayah Bass and on to centre forward Connor Bower.

The Bantams could easily have been four up after twenty minutes. Bass cut down one wing and crossed with Baker unlucky not to scoop the follow up in – Marine keeper Luke Piken making the first of a dozen great blocks – and minutes Marshall is playing into Baker who flicks to Bower who sees Piken save his shot. Bass makes the early breakthrough picking up the ball in the box and cutting back onto his left foot to put the ball in. At that state it all looked easy.

Brown – the biggest player on the field amidst some big lads from Marine – went into a tackle on the flank but makes his way to the middle picking off a pass and playing forward to Baker who turned to play the ball into the path of James Nanje-Ngoe who ran clear and beat Piken but hit he post.

City could have been out of sight with keeper Callum Tongue a spectator but were watching Brown taken off with an injury replaced by Alex Metcalfe and Marine flashed a first cross. City maintained a dominance of the middle of the midfield but the visitors threatened on the flanks. The Bantams wobbled and a half cleared corner fell to Matthew Monagahan lashed the ball in from the edge of the box. Bit by bit the Bantams free ranging attacks became rarer as the visitors powered into City.

Marine’s side averaged much bigger and more physical than the Bantams who for the last fifteen minutes of the first half and the same time at the start of the second half struggled in the battle. Their were forays forward with Bower accelerating past defenders but seeing his shot saved (again) and Bass and Baker combining with an understanding that showed confidence in each other but still Piken stood firm.

At the back Andrew Boote blocked manfully while his central defensive partner and captain Declan McGiven and right back Cole Harrop struggled for understanding with pressure from the visitors coming early and causing problems. McGiven cleans up after Boote and frees Marshall who piles down on goal and requires Piken to save again. Nanje-Ngoe went close again, then plays in Baker. If City had had six at half time it would not have been a surprise, but Marine deserved to be level.

A contradiction then. The Bantams would do nothing different having piled on the pressure but Marine were happy to have managed to soak up what they could and nick a goal on the break. In the second half every Marine long ball caused problems every time they came forward but bit by bit the Bantams started to play the ball through the midfield of Nanje-Ngoe and Metcalfe and when they did so looked able to create chances at will.

Baker, Marshall, Bass and Bower provided options whenever the ball came forward and twice more City hit the post while Piken saved a half dozen chances many of which had seen the interplay between forwards conclude with a striker behind the back line and running in with only the keeper to beat. Baker took the ball around Piken but saw his shot hooked off the line. Steve Thornber’s switched Bass to the forward line and pressed a 433 but the patten of City attacking, but being frustrated with the constant worry of a sucker punch hanging in the air.

Sure enough in the last minute Matthew Devine found room in the box and hooked the ball over Tongue, McGiven scooping off the line. Even after that Baker had a chance to get behind the defence again and split the ball wide. Marine deserved extra time for their hard work but had the game ended in seven or eight goals then they could have had few complaints.

There was an attacking flair to City’s play for sure – Adam Baker was superb – but it came with a steel that James Nanje-Ngoe and Alex Metcalfe brought having won the midfield battle in the second half. Metcalfe’s dropping into the back four when needed provided a solidity and Nanje-Ngoe’s link up play with Baker was opening up the visitors. An early chance falls to sub Connor Erangey who smartly tries to stay on his feet and commit Piken but the keeper is not for selling himself too soon and saves. It seems that he will frustrate the Bantams all night.

Until another move that cuts through Marine with Erangey swinging the ball into the path of Baker who cuts back to Marshall, the left winger finishing from just outside the six yard box. It is a goal cheered by the small crowd as warmly as a good number of first team goals.

Then City are in control. Nanje-Ngoe is a powerhouse on the edge of box boxes taking the ball it and firing wide. Baker takes a knock but carries on into the second period where Metcalfe frees him again following a great tackle on Devine. Baker slides the ball wide. It is superb football and has almost everything.

And then a brawl breaks out, and it has everything. Kevin Farrell is sent of for reacting badly after a decision is given against him following a tackle on Erangey. Farrell seems to be the wrong man, but in his absence Bass picks up the ball from a cleared corner an rides three tackles taking the ball into the box before giving City a conclusive goal. Boote drops a clanger in the last minute and Marine grab a goal, but the Bantams see the game out.

Which is two hours of football that promises far more than it could deliver. In the cold night air one can dream of that performance in League Two but the reality of league football is not forgiving. The likes of Adam Baker might be playing for City before the season is out – a tempting prospect – and players like Nanje-Ngoe, Metcalfe, Bower, Erangey, Marshall, Bass and Robert Hiza certainly impressed, but there is a lot of hard work between now and then.

Tonight City learnt a lesson about missing chances – a scan at the notes references sixteen clear cut chances for the Bantams – but the lesson was not needed today. Most impressive though is the team ethic which the players showed to come back from the mid-game battering and keep playing for each other. Any or all of the players might turn out to be great talents, but the highest tribute one could pay to them tonight as they go onto the next round and a trip to Boston United is that they were great team mates for each other.

Swindon Town 0 Bradford City 0 At The County Ground in League Two, 2011/12

As a general rule, unused substitutes don’t usually need to join in with the team’s warm down after the match. Yet after spending the entire final 30 minutes at The Country Ground stretching and jogging up and down the touchline, at full time Bradford City’s Jack Compton and Ross Hannah might have been tempted to join their 10 heroic team mates on the cool down.

Substitutes Compton and Hannah were on permanent stand-by in case it went wrong. Under clear instructions from their manager, Phil Parkinson – who at one stage ordered them back to their feet when they had returned to sit down on the bench – to be ready for the call to go onto the field at the shortest of notice. Victim to yet another atrocious refereeing decision that had seen central defender Andrew Davies red-carded after 57 minutes, City were left to defend for their lives with Compton and Hannah ready as Plan C, if their goal was breached. The pair’s failure to get on the field illustrated Plan B’s success.

For although the Bantams has parked the bus in the preservation of a point; once a man down they were left with little realistic alternative, considering their high-flying hosts Swindon Town had, since August 16, failed to score in a game only once. It was a truly outstanding, backs to the wall performance in the final half hour, with central defenders Luke Oliver and Marcel Seip particularly courageous and Michael Flynn and Ritchie Jones superbly protecting the back four. A first clean sheet on the road for six months, and a very, very good point.

That it came to hanging on was the game’s major talking point – and how depressing and frankly boring it is to be writing about a referee yet again. City were on the attack deep in Swindon’s half, but the ball suddenly broke for Jake Jervis who was then fouled inside his own half by Davies. A mistimed challenge for sure, a yellow card perhaps. Yet the referee Oliver Langford instantly pulled out a red to send the on-loan Stoke defender off on the day he’d returned from a three match suspension following a previous controversial red card.

There is some talk that Davies was dismissed for being the last man and denying a goal scoring opportunity. While that does seem nonsense in view of the number of City players around – and the fact Jervis was in his own half – it’s even harder to understand how Langford could believe the tackle warranted a red card. Davies took a long time to leave the field, as team mates supported his protest appeals. Liam Moore – unfortunate to have been left out, but who had been poor at Macclesfield – quickly joined the action with Seip moved inside. A 4-4-1 formation was employed to try and see out the game.

It’s ironic that City were forced to hang on for a point, given the criticism – largely unfair – towards Parkinson for supposedly playing too conservatively in the previous two away games. Plan A today involved two wingers and a 4-4-2 formation which showed clear intentions to attack Swindon. Parkinson’s pre-match comments that City are good enough to beat anyone in League Two had felt dubious but – as they evenly matched opponents who began and ended the day in the play off positions – this barometer reading of how the Bantams compare to a top seven side produced encouraging results.

Swindon certainly had the most chances and possession even before Davies was sent off, but the improvement in defence that has been evidenced for a number of weeks now – even if not always reflected by results – was continued. Decent home build up play was often stopped by the hard-working Jones and Flynn, while new full backs Seip and Luke O’Brien both did well neutralising the threat on their wings. Davies was like Oliver, rock solid. When City had possession they didn’t simply hoof it hopefully to James Hanson or Craig Fagan, but passed the ball around patiently and got wingers Kyel Reid and Michael Bryan heavily involved. Both caused problems and created openings.

City did not look and perform like a team 4^th bottom of League Two.

Home keeper Wes Foderingham’s mistake in picking up a back pass gave the Bantams an early indirect free kick inside the box, but Flynn’s effort was blocked. Not long after Fagan shot tamely from Hanson’s knock down and sometime after that City’s top scorer couldn’t get power when heading a Seip cross goalwards. The best chance came when Bryan was played clean through on goal but in a wide position, and the young winger couldn’t get a decent ball into the box towards the onrushing Fagan. Swindon had chances too, but Matt Duke’s only save came, once again, from a shot outside the box (on this occasion a free kick) – underlining the robustness of his back four.

Without Davies’ red card the game would probably have continued in that way: Swindon having plenty of the ball and producing some attractive football, City defending well and a strong threat on the counter attack. Langford’s intervention stopped the game as an even contest, and left Swindon with 30 minutes to make their extra man count.

It was easy to fear the worst, as the home side produced some heavy pressure and fired numerous crosses into the box. Not least when it became clear Duke had picked up an injury which meant he could not take goal kicks. Yet Oliver and Seip seemed to have a magnetic effect on the ball, and time and time again it was one of the pair who would get to it first and clear.

Duke had just two second-half saves to make – and one came when it was 11 v 11, after O’Brien’s slip forced the keeper to make an excellent one-on-one block. Other attempts at goal sailed wide or over the bar, but never really close to going under it.

The threat of a goal remained right to the end, yet Swindon seemed to run out of ideas and perhaps took a lead from their attention-seeking, immature manager Paulo Di Canio. He began to get ridiculously wound up by any decision he didn’t get or whenever his players made a mistake. Sure, all managers get like this to a certain extent too, but with 20 or so minutes to go and Swindon well on top one would have expected more coolness and professionalism from a manager – rather than transmitting obvious panic that it wasn’t going to be their day.

Some people think Di Canio is amusing, me I’d take the more reserved but clearly still passionate Parkinson any day.

The full time whistle was met with a huge cheer from us away supporters, and deservedly so. Applying rationale thinking, it is obvious the corner is being turned and City are moving forwards. At the start of this month we had set off to Burton with such little hope and growing fears about the future. But we produced a great performance that day, followed by a memorable cup victory over our neighbours, two home wins and now this point. The two defeats among this run were frustrating for sure, but it is beginning to come together.

October has ended with City in a much better position than when we started it. Progress might still be too slow to inspire hope of joining Swindon in the play off push, but the foundations of developing a side good enough to be up there ability-wise are starting to come through. City have improved greatly at the back, while Parkinson has a range of attacking options available that not too many League Two clubs can better.

That side of the Bantams had to be shelved for the final half hour this afternoon, but the spirit and determination to cling on to the point stands the club in good stead for the winter months to come.

Macclesfield Town 1 Bradford City 0 At Moss Rose in League Two, 2011/12

Booing from Bradford City fans at the final whistle is hardly a rarity. But as the Macclesfield evening grew ever chillier, the frosty farewell from a decent-size away following was for once not directed at our own players but at the man who had won Macclesfield the game.

Step forward and take a bow, Rob Lewis. Only as the boos and cries of “cheat” reigned down towards him at full time, the referee took a rare moment to hide away from the spotlight. A furious Phil Parkinson joined his players in confronting Lewis over the range of bewildering decisions he had made. It’s hard to recall the last time a referee had such an obvious impact on the scoreline.

For 65 minutes of the evening, Lewis was a minor irritation rather than obvious match winner. Then Macclesfield’s Ross Draper chased a slightly over-hit long ball into the box that was gathered up by Matt Duke, fell over as he ran into the City keeper and Lewis ruled the midfielder had been fouled. Luke Oliver, the nearest defender, could have been adjudged to have nudged Draper, but there seemed to be no contact whatsoever.

By the letter of the law, any foul by Oliver or Duke would have meant they were the last man and so a red card should have been issued. There was no card and so one can’t escape the feeling Lewis was looking for an excuse to even up the fact he’d turned down a much more credible Macclesfield penalty appeal in the first half. There was certainly no hesitation in awarding the second half spot kick that Lewis Chalmers dispatched easily.

Yet there was just the warm up act for Lewis, who spent the final half hour seemingly giving every decision against a City side who pinned Macclesfield in their own half in a desperate search for an equaliser.

Lewis didn’t simply fail to award City free kicks when players looked to have been fouled – he gave Macclesfield free kicks seemingly as punishment for the City player been fouled. On a number of occasions it appeared as though he had spotted what looked to be clear fouls on Bantams’ players and blew his whistle to stop the game, only to trigger indignation from City players and supporters by pointing in the opposite direction to signal a home free kick.

Examples of this bizarre decision-making process were numerous; but when Jamie Devitt was sent crashing to the floor by two Macclesfield players jumping on top of him to head the ball away, only for Lewis to rule City’s substitute had fouled the two players, you wondered if the rules of football had been changed without anyone telling us.

It’s impossible to write an account of what went on in the final half hour without coming across as bitter and biased. All I can say is I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a referee make so many bad decisions and so obviously favour one team when making them. City’s players would be kicked, pushed and hauled to the floor by home players and get nothing, while the slightest bit of contact on a Macclesfield player in possession would see them earn a free kick. Either come down hard on every tackle or (preferably) show some common sense, but to apply a different set of standards towards each team is a referee having far too much influence on the outcome of a football match.

All of which is not to be disrespectful to Macclesfield, who put in an impressive first half performance where they passed the ball around with confidence and came close to taking the lead through a series of decent long range shots – one of which hit the outside of the post. As expected, Parkinson had elected to pick three central midfielders rather than two out-and-out-wingers, but a very poor display from Adam Reed contributed largely to possession being easily squandered.

Up front Craig Fagan and Kyel Reid played just behind James Hanson, but the trio failed to click in the manner it had on its previous two outings.  Fagan’s wide position seemed to be aimed at making the most of Macclesfield’s weakest player, left back Carl Tremarco. Yet Hanson was left far too isolated and Reid had fewer close options to pick out when he came forwards. City’s best first half chance came when Ritchie Jones’ clever charge into the box was eventually picked out by Reid, but the midfielder failed to make a decent connection.

Defensively City looked more assured than on Saturday, with Marcel Seip again impressing if showing a slightly worrying tendency to push out quickly when his fellow defenders sat deeper. A rare mistake by Oliver when under-hitting a back pass allowed Draper in on goal for that strong penalty shout; but as he poked the ball past Duke and fell over the keeper rather than go around him to tap the ball into an empty net, the resultant appeal carried some degree of suspicion that he was looking for it.

It became obvious – shortly after break – that City’s gameplan involved ensuring they were at least level at half time level, before pushing on in the second half. And for the second 45 minutes they pinned Macclesfield back, quickly unmasking frailties in their defence which led to panicky clearances and a struggle just to get out of their own half. Jones twice went close, while full backs Liam Moore and Luke O’Brien – who replaced the injured Robbie Threlfall early in the second half – provided overlapping width and some testing crosses. A goal seemed only a matter of time.

Then came the penalty at the other end, followed by a final 25 minutes that seemed to be 11 vs 12. Michael Bryan came on for the anonymous Reed, and City’s move to 4-4-2 had the home defence stretched further. Yet good build up play and a number of superb crosses in the box went unrewarded. Strong pressure would invariably be punctured by Lewis awarding a home free kick for very little.

Three City players were booked as frustration took over, but only Jones seemed deserving of such a punishment following a wild tackle that revealed his growing frustration. Hanson’s booking for contesting a 50-50 ball was nonsense, while as City prepared to take a corner it appeared home keeper Jose Veiga raised his arms at Fagan with Lewis’ back turned. The result? Fagan was booked. Of course. Makes sense.

Devitt was brought on for Jones and did extremely well, while Reid was a constant terror who made things happen whenever he had the ball. As a winger he is both intelligent and brave; always looking around to assess his options, while not being afraid to take a kick or two from the opposition.

For all the pressure, not enough good chances were created. Hanson had two decent opportunities, but a shot and header lacked power. Reid blasted a free kick over and Flynn wasted a free header from a corner, glancing the ball well over. In the final minute of stoppage time Oliver nodded a Seip cross narrowly wide.

Beaten, but not bettered. Any defeat is a set back, but the evening’s effort and endeavour deserved much better; and for Parkinson the challenge is to get that bit more quality from his players in the final third, so City start returning from trips away from Valley Parade with a point or three. The league table once again does not look great, but slowly the tide of City’s season is turning.

The boos at full time for Lewis were followed by the players receiving a great ovation for their efforts, yet somehow back home in City’s cyberworld people not at the game were starting to demand that Parkinson is sacked and that blaming the referee for this defeat was an “excuse”.

I’m sick of making a huge amount of effort to attend away games, only for people who don’t watch them to jump to their own, misguided conclusions and claim they know better. The idea that any City fan could possibly believe – after years and years of driving managers away in the doomed belief it will improve things – that getting rid of Parkinson is now the answer is simply astonishing. If you are one of these people, take a glance at the Scottish Premier League table.

It seriously is time for a few people to take a long hard look at themselves and to question whether their online actions are helping the club or hindering it. If you don’t go to a game yet believe you can make a qualified opinion on what went wrong, that opinion does not deserve to be listened to be anyone.

Playing Reed was a mistake in hindsight, but no one can convince me that Parkinson’s approach tonight was wrong. Sadly, the amount of effort and preparation that would have gone in was undermined by a shockingly bad refereeing display. Stick to this path, however, and the rewards will surely come.

Bradford City 2 Northampton Town 1 At Valley Parade in League Two, 2011/2012

There was a moment after Northampton Town’s Michael Jacobs hit a fine long range effort into the goal to give the visitors a second half lead that Phil Parkinson’s Bradford City seemed to make the collective decision that they deserved more from the afternoon than defeat, that they should summon up from a reserve of responsibility and courage and force the performance to swing in their favour. In the parlance of our times: City manned up.

Ten minutes later the Bantams had won the game.

Watching football with a scouting report in one hand is a strange afternoon. Northampton’s side lined up not at all as they had in the game which our report detailed and many of the problems which the City scouting report suggested a few weeks ago had been plugged by Gary Johnson’s side who were missing striker Adebayo Akinfenwa and seemed to have adjusted accordingly. The result was a robust Cobblers side who deployed a man – Ben Tozer – holding between City’s midfield pair and as a result broke up much of the Bantams play but that was all that the visitors did with the Bantams backline utterly shutting out the visitors.

A surprisingly recalled Michael Bryan carved out the best chance – only one of two which stood out the other being a long range effort by Robbie Threlfall – taking the ball in field and twisting the loft a shot onto the bar. City gave nothing away and edged the first half but it was difficult to see where the goals would be coming from.

Where Northampton would be getting goals from was less of a mystery with the report warning of Jacobs and his abilities to strike the ball. His opportunity came when Adam Reed – booked for a bad tackle, but later subject of a similar one which got no punishment – was left floored and as he struggled to get back to position Jacobs fired in.

At that point Reed and Richie Jones – the midfield partnership in the absence of suspended Michael Flynn – seemed to have struggled to get around the Cobblers midfield nor could they make partnerships with the wide men but both seemed to sense the need to make a performance and Jones stepped to the fore.

It had been suggested that the midfielder was wasted on the right flank last week and one might have thought that thinking wishful until Jones took control of the middle of the field coming forward with direction and drive, tracking back to create solidity when needed, and leading by example.

It was Jones who drove forward with the ball feeding it left to Bryan and eventually resulting in a cross which defender Andy Holt tried to cut out but only succeeded in handling. Craig Fagan beat keeper Sam Walker from the spot.

Five minutes later and Jones came forward again battling in to push the ball wide to Kyel Reid for the winger – who had usual game veering between utter frustration and sublime moments – to drop a ball to James Hanson who beat his man and converted from inside the six yard box.

It was a worthy turnaround and one which Jones had much to do with. The midfielder might spend his career being the guy who plays the ball to the guy who gets the assist and very few stats record that contribution, but I’m sure the scout report would have noted it, or will do in the future.

Having been beaten by a long range shot only City never looked like surrendering the lead. Luke Oliver’s performance was remarkable for the fact that we are growing to expect that sort of display from a player that many, many would have written off at the end of last season while Marcel Seip’s Valley Parade debut saw him looking assured, mobile and confident. No one said the words “Guy Branston” all afternoon and as City start to rise up the league so the goal difference starts to look more respectable.

Moreover though City’s victory was – as with the win over Torquay – hard fought. While the attractive football of Stuart McCall’s side might have gone so has the soft centre. City are less easy on the eye, but Saturday nights after a win are satisfying.

Sitting back on such a Saturday night and flicking over the scout report the danger of Michael Jacobs is written in black and white but so is that of Lewis Young – the right winger wearing number two who was frustrated all afternoon – who the Bantams coped with superbly. The talk about the goalkeeper Walker and his control of his box were accurate and City seemed to fire low hard crosses rather than allow the six foot seven custodian grab balls from the air.

One wonders though what the scouts who watched City will have written about the Bantams today. One thing is for sure those reports will have had the word “character” in them, and that is what took Phil Parkinson’s side to victory today.

Hereford United 2 Bradford City 0 At Edgar Street in League Two, 2011/2012

Hereford’s new Director of Football Gary Peters likened to himself to “Red Adair” when he took over at Edgar Street, in reference to his track record of rescuing struggling clubs, and these qualities will be required in abundance if the Bulls are to escape their predicament. On Saturday’s evidence they may not be alone in that assessment. A disjointed, uninspiring display from Bradford resulted in them leaving with exactly what they deserved, now only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.

Phil Parkinson decided to recall Jamie Devitt and Adam Reed into the starting eleven with Devitt playing off Craig Fagan and Reed partnering Flynn in the middle. This again forced Ritchie Jones out to the right flank, something seen often over recent weeks without the midfielder ever looking comfortable. Marcel Seip, replacing the suspended Davies and the departed Branston alongside Luke Oliver, stands as one of the only success stories to come out of the game for the Bantams, putting in an assured performance in the heart of the City backline in the face of a testing aerial barrage throughout.

The match started slowly in the sleepy confines of Edgar Street, only awakened by the sporadic calls of the hordes of school children shipped in for today’s game, cited as a must-win for Hereford by manager Jamie Pitman. What was seen on the pitch would be better described as rugby than football. Little focus or energy was expended on ball retention or build up play, instead focusing on field position and set pieces. Long throws and corners were the entry point of choice for Hereford, and both sides spent the majority of the game attempting to find touch deep in the opposition half. This was obviously the game plan of Hereford who boasted a physical side, led by lanky midfielder Harry Pell and their powerful forward Nathan Elder.

It would be nice to say that Phil Parkinson’s side attempted to play football around the rigidly defensive Bulls, but it wouldn’t be accurate, they were just as bad. Hereford brought Bradford down to their level with remarkable ease.

Neither side showed the attacking intent or skill to indicate any goals were forthcoming and it was clear early on that this game would be decided by mistakes. A couple of marking mishaps in the City backline led to first half chances for Elder and Pell which were spurned, and after a corner was poorly cleared Stephen Leslie rocketed a shot destined for the top corner before the intervention of Duke who tipped the ball onto the bar. This was a startling moment of skill, entirely out of context in a game such as this. Bradford’s best chance fell to Craig Fagan who crashed the ball over the bar from close range after good work from Devitt set him clean through on goal.

The second half picked up where the first left off, seemingly destined for 0-0 until the ejection of Michael Flynn changed the course of the game. City’s captain could have no complaints about his sending off, the second booking coming after the Welshman cynically brought down the surging Pell outside the City area. Stephen Leslie, who had two long distance shots saved well by Duke up to this point then dispatched the ball into top corner. Leslie, recruited by Peters from Shrewsbury soon after his arrival was clearly Hereford’s key man and it was of little surprise he was the difference in the game.

It’s easy to blame Duke for the concession of another long range strike but there was little he could do about this one, and he had made two impressive saves from distance before this. What should be more of a worry is the performance of the outfield players who showed a distinct lack of invention and skill throughout. Hereford flooded the midfield, restricting the space for Devitt to work, and doubled up on Kyel Reid leading to Bradford running out of ideas all too quickly. In lieu of attempting to work through the rigid defensive lines, Parkinson’s men instead resorted to pumping the ball long in the vague direction of Craig Fagan and the corner flags, worryingly reminiscent of the Jackson era.  

Fagan cut a frustrated character throughout spending large periods of the game isolated, chasing after a succession of lost causes. This frustration grew as the game wore on and culminated at the final whistle as Fagan angrily attempted to smash the ball out of the ground amongst the euphoric celebrations of the Hereford contingent, before heading straight for the tunnel. After the support, or lack thereof, he received from his teammates during the game, this was easy to understand.

After Leslie’s opener the mood around Edgar Street noticeably lifted, the confidence began to flow throughout the team, and there was little doubt in which end the next goal would come. Parkinson altered to a 3-4-2 with Luke O’Brien taking over in central midfield, this left City exposed to the counter, and after a probing run at the heart of the defence, the impressive Tom Barkhuizen neatly played a one two with substitute Yoann Arquin before slotting past Duke.

Arquin’s introduction along with the ever more rotund Delroy Facey at 0-0 showed the endeavour of the Bulls who could see this game was for the taking, and both contributed well as Hereford closed out what would prove to be a relatively easy win.

After the game Phil Parkinson placed the blame at the feet of Michael Flynn for the defeat, but this rather seems an easy excuse for the City manager. In truth the side deserved nothing more and a better opponent would have exposed them to a far greater extent. Bradford also got away with what looked a certain penalty before the opener, Jones handling in the area. It’s difficult to recall a shot in anger on the Hereford goal nor any periods of sustained pressure from Parkinson’s men. With the exception of the suspended Davies and the injured Syers, this would probably represent the strongest side possible, and they looked thoroughly unimpressive throughout. Flynn is now set for a two match suspension missing next week’s games against Northampton and Macclesfield thanks to his fifth booking in the midst of his red card.

Peters’ impact on the struggling Bulls cannot be underestimated, for the second straight game he spent the second half on the touchline alongside manager Jamie Pitman, and it was clear that he was heavily involved in the management of the side. Five goals and four points in the two games since his arrival illustrate the impact which he has had on the West Midlands club, and while Bradford have improved markedly since the start of the season they remain in the same position, struggling for points, struggling for consistency, and looking over their shoulder with greater urgency with each passing week. Whilst Bradford look to have the talent and fire power not to have to call on a Red Adair or a Boots Hansen, the fact they are struggling to escape the grasps of the relegation zone is beginning to worry.

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BfB is pleased to welcome Alex Scott to our band of Bantams. Alex’s own Bradford City website Concentrate On The League is on our must read lists and we point you towards it.

Bradford City 1 Torquay United 0 At Valley Parade in League Two, 2011/2012

The last time he left Valley Parade happy Phil Parkinson was called “the enemy of football” by then City manager Colin Todd after his Colchester United team battled to a point. As Parkinson celebrated his first win as Bantams boss it seemed that no matter what how much of an enemy if the game Todd might think he may be, he is effective against the opposition.

Torquay United came to Valley Parade and were almost entirely neutered in their attempts to win the game thanks to a defensive effort from Parkinson’s side the match of anything seen at City for seasons and despite the Bantams having a man sent off.

Lining up with two rows of four, and Mark Stewart behind Craig Fagan Parkinson’s side were the picture of tight defending and – when they had to be – smart enough to kill off the game when legs got weary with the Bantams having to play over an hour with ten men following the sending off of Andrew Davies in the first half.

Now, dear reader, our views may divert (at least until television reveals more) but from my bit of plastic in the near 12,000 filled seats at Valley Parade Davies went in aggressively on Danny Stevens taking both feet off the floor and even in getting the ball the red card that Carl Boyeson showed was (as little as I like to see City players sent off) the right decision.

(Sunday note: Watching again the only way the Ref could justify a red card is if he believed that because the tackle was two footed that it was automatically either reckless, dangerous and endangered an opponent thus a yellow card even if it got the ball and, by virtue if the goal scoring opportunity denied, a red card. If that is the case Davies would get a one match ban. It was certainly not a violent or aggressive tackle which would merit a three match ban. Having seen it again, and in the context of other tackles in the game, I would not have even blown the whistle for a foul.)

My views were not shared by most and Valley Parade went into uproar and most (including t’other half of BfB Jason Mckeown) thought that Davies had taken ball hard but fair, that Stevens had made a meal of the tackles – he was booed for the rest of the afternoon – and that Boyeson was wrong.

If Boyeson did get the decision right then it was pretty much all he got right all afternoon in which time and time again he showed a near contempt for the rules that he was on the field to enforce. For sure we can all forgive mistakes – one or Jason and myself will be wrong about the red card tackle – but what can not be forgive is seeing offences and ignoring them.

So when Kyel Reid – on a foray into the Torquay United half when City were attacking on the counter – turned Eunan O’Kane on the edge of the box despite the midfielder tugging on his shirt only to be hacked at and pulled down in the box and Boyeson gave only a yellow card one had to wonder which part of the rules he was enforcing. The part that says that denying a goal scoring opportunity mandates a red card was ignored, and thirty years of football tells me that that was one.

Of the goalscoring opportunities City created the lion’s share with Matt Duke having to save once low down to his right but spending most of the rest of the afternoon watching the heroics of defenders Luke Oliver and substitute Guy Branston who blocked and blocked again whenever the ball penetrated the wall which the midfield pair Richie Jones and Michael Flynn had put up which was refreshingly not often.

In a game when plaudits were available for all special mention goes to Michael Flynn who put in a box to box midfield display which makes one wonder why at the start of the season he was seemingly on his way out of the club. His combination with Jones – who is a fine player for sure and one with a great engine – made for a powerful midfield display nullifying the previously excellent O’Kane.

Oliver and Branston – and Davies before his departure – were immense. Again Oliver was on his way out at the start of the season but his performance today looked like the best defender to have taken to the field for City since the slide into League Two. Graeme Lee, David Wetherall, Matt Clarke et al would have all loved to have put in a display like this.

Branston loved it too. Not wanting to dismiss the travelling supporters who applauded him last year he was gracious in victory but his display was the sort of showing which seemed promised when he signed.

Some of Branston’s tackles walked the line for sure, but so did much of City’s play and one was reminding of Todd’s talk of enemies when City got tough. City under Stuart McCall (in his first two seasons) and once or twice under Peter Jackson could be a joy to watch but they could also be a joy to play again for the opposition. A side that wanted to pass and impress an opposition side, Parkinson’s City were more aggressive.

Torquay United will return to the South Coast knowing they have been in a game. Michael Flynn was booked for a hard tackle, Richie Jones lucky not to follow Flynn into the book. Branston cleaned out everything, Oliver put muscle in and Craig Fagan leading the line gave his defender Hell. City, for want of a better phrase, manned up.

Sturdy at the back, giving nothing away, and ending up with a clean sheet all City needed to do was score – not something has been a problem this season – and so the goal came in the last ten minutes of the first half when a cross in from Robbie Threlfall was headed on by Luke Oliver, taken under control by Craig Fagan and struck in with power.

Fagan’s fitness is returning and he is looking like a very good player. He nearly got a second in the second half when he latched onto a the ball when racing against goalkeeper Robert Olejnik and lobbing the ball over the custodian only to see it hit bar and post and bounce away. Threlfall’s had a direct free kick pushed wide by a diving Olejnik later. Another goal would not have flattered City.

Not getting a goal though City played out the last ten minutes at game killing pace and the frustration started to show. Kyel Reid toyed with a few Torquay players and got a couple of kicks for his trouble one of which could not have been said to have been near the ball. Boyeson seemed to be happy to let that – as he did the many deliberate handballs he blew for against Torquay striker Rene Howe go without further censure.

Not one player will have left the field without the warm handshake from Phil Parkinson. Liam Moore battled hard at full back well supported by Stewart who dropped back to the right following the sending off. Kyel Reid turned a performance which seemed to be going nowhere into a great display. Luke O’Brien and Nialle Rodney put in great shifts from the bench. Parkinson has drummed in the need for hard work, and he got it today.

It was a new Bradford City modelled by Parkinson. More canny, a bit more nasty, and victorious. The sort of thing which Colin Todd called the enemies of football but without the ability to trust officials to carry out their jobs as detailed (and I reiterate that the red card, to me, seemed sound but one correct decision does not a performance make) City had to look after themselves today, and did.

Twelve games in and City have moved up the table to fourth bottom but it seems very much like this season has finally got going.