Bradford 3 - 0 Chesterfield - Match Report

League Two

Saturday 26th September 2009

After a sticky start to the season Stuart McCall's Bradford have embarked upon a decent run of form of late and a comfortable victory over Chesterfield at Valley Parade extended their unbeaten run to seven matches and lifted them to within two points of the top seven.

That they never hit top gear bodes well for the Bantams, who generally controlled this game from start to finish although they did have a scare early on when Wade Small almost found himself one on one with Simon Eastwood before referee Gary Sutton - who had an excellent game and often played the sensible advantage - halted play for an alleged trip on Luke O'Brien.

With Jack Lester benched as he recovered from a recent virus, Chesterfield lacked bite and Donal McDermott's left foot shot from an angle was horribly off target. Michael Flynn had shown him how it was done two minutes earlier when he capitalised on a moment of hesitation from a Spireites fullback down the left wing to cut back onto his right foot and curl a beautiful shot into the top-right hand corner to open the scoring in the 23rd minute.

Although they were the dominant side, City did have a few hairy moments and Simon Eastwood was called into action after half an hour with a good block after Jonathon Bateson had been beaten to the ball by Wade Small at the back post.

Another City man playing well was Scott Neilson and he enjoyed another good game on the right wing as he settles down into the side. His effort in the 34th minute - after cutting inside onto his left foot from around 25 yards - would have been a contender for goal of the month had Tommy Lee not pulled off a top drawer save to claw the ball out of the top corner.

However, Neilson did later manage to get his name onto the scoresheet, and at a crucial moment too. Chesterfield began a little better after the break but Derek Niven saw a close range shot blocked by Eastwood and instantly City launched a counter attack that saw Gareth Evans' shot parried into the path of Neilson for an easy tap in in the 55th minute.

Other half-chances for Chesterfield had come from their best player, Small, who had dragged a low shot wide of goal after escaping Williams, and also to Gregor Robertson, who curled a left-footed shot over the bar.

A City chance fell the way of James Hanson, who, with his back to goal, hooked a volley over the bar after a cross from Bateson, but a more clinical finish came courtesy of substitute Chris Brandon who rifled home from inside the area after Hanson had challenged Lee - his second goal off the bench against his former clubs this season.

Lester, so often a tormentor of City in the past, was starved of service after his introduction on the hour and Chesterfield's heads seemed to have dropped long by this point, and with Martin Gritton's low shot a routine catch for Eastwood it was the Bantams that looked more likely to add to their tally in the closing minutes.

Neilson somehow managed to hit the post with the goal at his mercy after Lee had become stranded, and substitute Michael Boulding also found himself in a decent position before waiting for the ball to roll across him and allowing Lee in to intercept before he had managed to crack a shot away.

Nevertheless, those misses proved irrelevant as City collected a well deserved three points and left the feeling that they had much more to offer in the months to come.

BCTID MOM - Luke O'Brien continued his good run of form with another fine attacking performance on the left and Michael Flynn had another good game in the middle of the field and has really bedded into the side well now and is contributing plenty offensively. My gut instinct walking away from the ground was that Simon Eastwood was my man of the match based upon his two fine saves that kept his side ahead, but on reflection I think Scott Neilson was probably the star man for City. He's got a wicked shot on him, looks much classier than his predecessor when in possession and is proving to be a real find by Stuart McCall.