Bantams up for the fight after win at Salford

BRADFORD City proved they can take a punch and win the fight after battling to beat Salford.

The Bantams had to came from behind to win 2-1 at the Peninsula Stadium as goals from Calum Kavanagh and Brad Halliday wiped out Callum Hendry’s opener for the Ammies.

Manager Graham Alexander, formerly of Salford, said: “I was devastated for the boys when we went 1-0 down. But we’ve talked about how we respond to getting a punch on the nose.

“We were the team in the ascendancy and I thought the response was instant. We went on the front foot again.

“We scored the equaliser and my notes for half-time didn’t change. It was about the quality we had and just having a little tactical tweak on the defensive side to manage their threats.

“We did that second half and just had to keep plugging away. We had numerous chances, in the second half especially, but Brad’s come up with the goods with an unbelievable finish.

“There were a lot of balls pumped into our box and they’ve got massive threats. But I think we stood up to that really well.

“It was a quality all-round performance but we have to improve in our consistency. If we want to be in that top area, we can’t have such a yo-yo experience.”

Salford City: Cairns, Chesters (N'Mai 57), Mariappa, Tilt, Garbutt, Lund (Morton 90), Watson, McLennan, Hendry, McAleny, Smith. Unused substitutes: Ingram, Davies, Torrance, Humbles, Malcolm. Bradford: Sam Walker, Oyegoke (Tomkinson 69), Platt, Kelly, Halliday, Smallwood, Jamie Walker (Gilliead 78), Wright (Richards 90), Pointon (Oduor 78), Cook, Kavanagh. Unused substitutes: Doyle, Smith, Chapman.

Referee: J Miles (England).