Bradford 2 - 3 Crewe - Match Report

Saturday 10th October

League Two

Bradford's ten game unbeaten run came to an end against Crewe this afternoon as the Railwaymen temporarily steered City's promotion charge off course.

In what was a thrilling advert for League Two football, Calvin Zola fired the visitors ahead with a wonder strike in the 8th minute, collecting a throw in on the right-hand touchline and lashing in an unstoppable dipping shot from what appeared to be an impossible angle.

The gangly forward, a £200k purchase from Tranmere last season, has made a big impact this season netting eight goals before this game and led the Crewe line well all afternoon, teeing up Shaun Miller in the 21st minute before his teammate saw his volley well blocked by Zesh Rehman.

For all of his guile though, Zola should not have been presented with the opportunity that led to Crewe's second. Steve Williams tried to side step an onrushing Crewe man but cheaply lost possession and was punished by Zola who tucked home from 20 yards with the assistance of the post, again leaving City 'keeper Simon Eastwood with no chance.

However, this was an end to end game of football and City too created plenty, if not more of the chances in the first half. As early as the second minute Michael Boulding had come close with a sweeping shot at the near post from a Luke O'Brien cross but seen his effort blocked by Patrick Ada.

Faced with the prospect of losing his place in the team to the returning-from-suspension Gareth Evans next week, Boulding worked his socks off for his side this afternoon and although he will still be scratching his head as to how he managed to clout the bar from six yards out after James O'Brien's shot had deflected into his path, he did make amends in first half injury time neatly glancing in a cross from the same player into the bottom left hand corner past David Button to take his tally to three in three since his recall.

Large portions of this match could be summed up in one word for City - frustration. They allowed John Brayford to cythe his way through their defence before he fired a bobbling shot wide whilst at the other end they were getting close to the goal without really troubling Button.

In the second half, that frustation was compounded when Crewe added a third and it was former Bantam Steve Schumacher on the scoresheet. The cheeky scouser had fired a warning to City that he was after a goal when, in the second minute of the half, his close range header had been batted out by Eastwood, but in the 65th minute he went one better with a 25-yard drive that took a late bounce that appeared to deceive the City stopper.

Nevertheless, even at 3-1 down City were not out of this contest and James Hanson saw several well hit shots deflected wide before he marked his recall to the side - after a bout of flu - with a superbly taken goal, adjusting his body well to a Boulding cross from the left to fire in a hook volley to put his side back in with good claims of a point.

City lacked width at times though, which was adressed around the hour when Scott Neilson replaced the ineffective Chris Brandon and he saw a volley palmed wide by Button who had become stranded in the middle of his area.

Miller missed a sitter from close range when he appeared to have been in an offside position after a Schumacher shot, but the most controversial moment of the game came with around 20 minutes of the match remaining when Lee Bullock's intended pass to Neilson appeared to have been controlled by the arm of Ashley Westwood around the edge of the area. City claimed the offence had taken place inside the box, the linesman claimed otherwise, and the referee sided with his assistant, as City wasted the resulting set-piece, a comment that applied so often this afternoon as they dominated the corner count too with 16 as opposed to Crewe's 7.

Ramsden saw a shot cleared off the line whilst Mat Mitchel-King had to throw his body on the line with a superb block to deny Flynn from inside the area, but the best chance in the closing minutes of the match fell to sub Anthony Elding who picked up a poor Luke O'Brien header - intended as a backpass for Eastwood - but saw his attempted lob saved as the 'keeper came charging out.

In summary, this was an end to end game of football that had you on the edge of your seat but with some horror defending and some class finishing from Crewe, City would have never been deserving of anything more than a point here, but their effort cannot be faulted and as fans that is all we ask for.

BCTID MOM: Calvin Zola - the best performance from a visiting player I have seen at Valley Parade this season. Everything about the guy smacked of a player that was playing below his level and if he carries on his current form Dario Gradi may be fending them off in January.