Bradford know there is work still to be done
BRADFORD CITY 1 FLEETWOOD TOWN 0 LEAGUE ONE PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL
BRADFORD CITY appreciate more than most that a first-leg lead in the play-offs does not equate to an appearance in the final.
In three of the club’s four previous tilts at winning promotion via a format first introduced by the Football League three decades ago, the side leading at ‘half-time’ has gone on to be knocked out in the return.
It is why no one at Valley Parade will be getting carried away just yet after Rory McArdle’s late header ensured Stuart McCall’s men will make the trip to Fleetwood Town on Sunday with a one-goal lead.
Nevertheless, the manner of last night’s triumph bodes well for the Bantams.
Against a visiting side who had clearly made the trek across the Pennines intent on keeping things tight and hoping to sneak a goal on the break, City displayed the patience that McCall had called for during the build-up.
No matter how many times the hosts were met by a wall of red shirts, they refused to compromise the football ideals that McCall has worked so hard to instil in his players.
The home fans in the 15,696 certainly approved, the vast majority filing out into a cold night after the final whistle warning the Championship that the Bantams are on their way.
Uwe Rosler’s men will undoubtedly have something to say about that on the Lancashire coast. These, after all, are the play-offs and Fleetwood are likely to be a very different prospect on home soil as they chase a seventh promotion in 12 years.
If Fleetwood can add more of an attacking flourish to an impressive defensive effort then City will have to be at their best to book a place in the Wembley final on May 20.
Nathan Pond, such a club stalwart during that rise from Northern Counties West League that the pond at Fleetwood’s training ground is named in the defender’s honour, epitomised the ‘thou shalt not pass’ approach of Rosler’s men with a tireless display.
Ashley Eastham was similarly resolute at the back and for so long it seemed this resolve would ensure a 20th stalemate of the season for Bradford, the League’s undoubted draw specialists.
Then, though, McArdle struck to earn City a first home win in the play-offs since Middlesbrough were beaten 2-1 at Valley Parade in 1988.
A 2-0 loss in the return at Ayresome Park dashed those hopes of promotion, while City’s Wembley trips in 1996 and 2013 came despite losing both first legs in front of their own fans.
A clear lesson, therefore, for Bradford to heed ahead of Sunday’s trip to Highbury.
The match is likely to be more open than last night’s contest, which conformed to the tendency of first legs to be cagey affairs due to neither side wanting to give the other an advantage.
The upshot can be a mistake deciding who leads at the halfway stage and City goalkeeper Colin Doyle came mightily close to handing the initiative to Fleetwood with a dreadful first-half clanger.
Faced with the simple task of clearing the ball from a back pass, he could only fire straight at David Ball. With the Bantams man frantically scrambling back towards his line, Ball chipped a shot that, much to Doyle’s relief, landed on top of the net.
It was a rare foray forward by the visitors, who had set up clearly determined to take the tie back to Highbury on level terms.
Billy Clarke went closest to dashing those hopes during the first half with a drilled shot from 20 yards that struck Alex Cairns’s post.
Clarke also had a half-volley that flew well wide, while Charlie Wyke was unable to capitalise on a sliced clearance by Bobby Grant as Cairns saved his scuffed shot.
Former Leeds United apprentice Cairns was also in the right place to tip over Josh Cullen’s curling free-kick early in the second half.
Romain Vincelot then fired wildly over when well placed before McMahon’s goalbound shot was blocked by Ashley Eastham.
Wyke was similarly wasteful with a half-chance from a Jordy Hiwula pass before the moment Bradford had pushed and pressed for finally arrived with 13 minutes remaining.
A beautifully flighted corner from McMahon was begging anyone clad in claret and amber to throw themselves at the ball. McMahon did exactly that, timing his run perfectly to power an unstoppable header beyond Cairns.
The home side finally had their lead, but plenty of work lays ahead if that trip to Wembley is to be secured.
Bradford City: Doyle; McMahon, McArdle, Knight-Percival, Meredith; Cullen, Vincelot; Marshall, Clarke (Hiwula 69), Law (Dieng 88); Wyke. Unused substitutes: Sattelmaier, Darby, Penney, Gilliead, Kilgallon.
Fleetwood Town: Cairns; Eastham, Pond, Schwabl (Glendon 46); McLaughlin, Ball (Burns 81), Grant, Dempsey, Bell; Ball, Cole (Hunter 66). Unused substitutes: Neal, Branagan, Davis, Nirennold.
Referee: O Langford (West Midlands).