Garry is the late hero for Bantams
ON THE 29th anniversary of the stadium fire that killed 56 fans, Bradford boss Phil Parkinson was left relieved that his side managed to claim a 2-1 victory over Crawley.
A minute’s silence marked the tragic fire before Bradford got their final home match of the season underway, and it was substitute Garry Thompson that headed home the decisive goal.
Parkinson’s men have now finished their home campaign with back-toback wins but the Bradford boss already has his eyes set on building for next season.
A lethargic first half meant Parkinson had to remind his players that the season was not yet over and Bradford took the lead minutes after the restart.
Nathan Doyle found Aaron McLean with a pass over the defence and the striker fired home with a neat finish.
However, a defensive misunderstanding between Carl McHugh and goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin allowed substitute Jamie Proctor to capitalise and lobbed home the equaliser.
But Bradford’s weren’t deterred and Thompson climbed to meet Gary Jones’ corner and seal the victory.
“This is a big day for Bradford and the football club and I think we did it justice,” said Parkinson.
“The most important thing is to win the match and we did that which is really pleasing.
“Obviously it had a real end of season feel to it which I think was inevitable but we worked hard.
“With the minute’s silence it was an important game and it is good that we have finished with back-to-back wins.
“I thought Aaron McLean produced a good finish, he still has a lot of work to do but it was good to get him going.
“It was frustrating to concede and I think we felt sorry for ourselves and I said to the lads that season doesn’t finish until the referee blows the final whistle at Tranmere.
“We have got a lot of work to do because Bradford City is not a League One club and it certainly isn’t a League Two club.”
While Parkinson was pleased with to have stolen the win Crawley boss John Gregory was less than impressed.
“I felt we deserved at least a point.We looked very comfortable at 1-1 and we had numerous opportunities to get a second,” said Gregory.
“At that point I thought there was only one team who was going to win the game but we messed up at a corner and Bradford nicked the points.
“It’s been tough for us on the road.We have not performed any where near as well as we should have done throughout the season away from home.”