» Duff’s delight as Robins fight back to sink Bradford
CHRIS Clements’ first goal since Boxing Day 2018 sealed a 2-1 comeback victory for Cheltenham Town at Bradford City on Tuesday night.
The Robins had to hit back from a goal down after a poor start at Valley Parade, with Clayton Donaldson heading in the opener for the Bantams from Callum Cooke’s 23rd minute cross.
Cheltenham nearly responded immediately when Liam Sercombe saw an effort hit the bar after good play from Chris Hussey and Alfie May.
Michael Duff’s men improved late in the first half and May scored the leveller in the final minute before the break after cutting inside and beating Richard O’donnell with a deflected shot.
Clements replaced Ellis Chapman at half-time and Cheltenham dominated after the break, with May denied by a fine block on the line by Ben RichardsEverton in the 61st minute.
The away side’s pressure paid off in the 76th minute when a long throw from Ben Tozer reached Clements and he nodded into the net.
Duff was delighted with the resolve of his side to come back and win.
“We weren’t particularly pleased with the first 35 minutes of the game full stop and going 1-0 down,” he said.
“But after the 130 odd minutes on Saturday, coming away to a big club in this league with some good players is good.
“They are having a difficult run at the minute, so getting their noses in front gives them even more to fight for.
“Stuart (Mccall) said before the game he was looking for a dogged, resilient performance so to wrestle the game back as we did, I am really pleased.
“We had to dig in deep at the end. Ben Richards-everton is 6ft 5in and I don’t think he’s won a header in the last 10 minutes.
“We should have been out of sight by the end because we had enough chances, with three off the line and we hit the bar as well.
“The reaction to going 1-0 down, away from home, we could easily have thought ‘well we played 130 minutes on Saturday and got a good result, so never mind’ but they didn’t.
“They listened to information and people came off the bench and affected the game in a really positive way.”
When asked what he wasn’t happy with in the first half, Duff simply replied: “All of it.”
He added: “Not the whole first 45 minutes, because we were good for 10 minutes at the end of it.
“Donaldson bullied our back three. We were too high, then we were too deep. We didn’t land on second balls, or get the right pressure on the ball and we couldn’t find two passes, so it’s not a great recipe.
“Sometimes it’s not easy to change that type of performance, but the goal almost jolted us into a reaction of changing what we were doing.
“We changed the shape slightly within that as well, which helped us and that’s credit to the players.
“They did it immediately, hit the crossbar, I don’t know how Lloydy (George Lloyd) and Alfie (May) between them haven’t scored the one chance. The first goal was deflected, but it was more than deserved.
“I thought Clem (Chris Clements) was outstanding in the second half. We weren’t doing what we asked them to do, to start with.
“In the second half you get your diagonals and start playing in the wide areas, which is where we want to get our overloads and he dictated that.
“I didn’t think he’d score a diving header, but I’ll take that all day.”
Clements’ performance again showed the strength in depth of the Cheltenham squad.
“He was unlucky to come out of the team because I thought he was excellent on Saturday against Crewe,” said Duff.
“That was a decision we made because Ellis Chapman hadn’t done anything wrong the week before.
“People are coming out of the team and struggling to get back in, even when they do well, which is what we want.
“Scott Flinders is a perfect example. Tom Sang has come in and shown what he is for the last two games, coming on and showing quality as well as energy, whereas before he was almost trying too hard.
“They are all going to be needed and we have every fit player available with us. A few other lads are out on loan who will hopefully come back and affect the group as well.
“They are tight-knit, there is a good spirit and there was no panic at the end, despite what happened last week.
“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t creep into your thoughts, but I am not out on the pitch and they saw it out really well, with composure at the end.
“Clearances had height and distance, knowing when to see it out and not snatching at things and being too anxious. I was really pleased with just that part of the half.”
The win keeps the Robins in second place and Duff said: “We are 15 games in, so a third of the season and that’s it.
“We had a good season last year and had nothing to show for it. Ideally we want to keep going and going.
“Ultimately it doesn’t matter what we do against other teams, or what teams do on nights when we are playing, it’s about how many points we get.
“Bradford might think they deserve a point today. We were good value for it though and it’s a bit psychological marker to show we can come away to a big club, travel on the day after a big result on Saturday and churn out a result.”
Bradford City: O’donnell; A O’connor, P O’connor, Richards-everton; Hosannah (French 65), Watt, Cooke (Pritchard 73), Scales, Wood; Donaldson, Mottley-henry (Samuels 82). Subs not used: Hornby, Longridge, Cousin-dawson, Sikora
We had a good season last year and had nothing to show for it. Ideally we want to keep going and going
Griffiths; Raglan, Tozer, Boyle; Blair, Sercombe, Azaz (Sang 79), Chapman (Clements 46), Hussey; May (Williams 79), Lloyd. Subs not used: Flinders, Bowry, Reid, Freestone
Seb Stockbridge
Michael Duff