Written by Tim Penfold

Just as it looks like Bradford City were back in contention for the automatic promotion slots, they took a step back again with a frustrating draw at Crawley Town. City could, with some justification, say that they deserved to win the game, but wasted too many chances and ended up hanging on after a late red card.

The Bantams lined up in the diamond formation that had been used for the comeback against Grimsby, with Scott Banks starting in a deeper right-sided role than he has normally played and Matt Derbyshire paired up front with Andy Cook. Harry Chapman was back on the bench, while Romoney Crichlow dropped out of the squad altogether.

This system did not work, however. The dominance that it should provide in the middle of the park was negated by a heavy Crawley pitch, while the hosts targeted the gaps that it leaves on the flanks. They had early pressure, forcing a string of corners and had one chance cleared off the line by Matty Platt. Hughes reacted early to this, switching to a 4-2-3-1 with Derbyshire moving to the left hand side, and City gained a measure of control of the game.

Andy Cook had a couple of chances saved, one of which he really should have buried, and City also wasted an excellent free kick opening when Richie Smallwood pulled rank over the better placed Scott Banks and smashed it straight into the wall. There were other openings wasted by poor crosses, with Brad Halliday often chipping it straight on to a defender’s head, before the half stopped resembling a football game at all.

The nastiness started when Halliday, scrambling to retain possession, got the ball trapped under him, and a Crawley player responded by kicking the City right back while he was on the floor. This sparked some pushing and shoving which saw Platt correctly booked, while the home player escaped a red card for his kick on Halliday. Shortly afterwards, Smallwood was booked for a high tackle, and any pretence of football went. There were five bookings issued by half time, and memories of the infamous 2012 brawl were being brought up.

In the second half there was a bit more football and less violence, and City wasted more chances. Banks was finding space but drilled one shot across the face of goal and had another one saved. A Derbyshire flick-on set Cook free but he rushed his shot and dragged it wide when he should’ve hit the target. Cook then skewed another shot wide when the pass to Banks was the better option, which set the tone for the rest of the game as City repeatedly made the wrong decisions in attacking areas.

Dara Costelloe replaced Derbyshire on the left, but his main contribution was to run the ball out of play under very little pressure, while Jamie Walker consistently picked out defenders with his final ball. One opening nearly came when Walker won the ball back high up the pitch but it bobbled out of his control, while the impressive home keeper Corey Addai came rushing out to prevent another.

At the other end, Crawley threatened sporadically and eventually forced Lewis into a good save at the far post, but it was still City – despite their profligacy, and despite their poor passing – that carried the greater attacking danger. Vadaine Oliver was summoned from the bench as Hughes went for a direct 3-5-2, but the pairing of Oliver and Cook has barely worked all season and didn’t again.

Then the wind was taken out of City’s sails completely. A missed tackle left a Crawley forward one on one vs Platt, and the defender’s mistimed challenge brought him a second booking. With a man advantage, the hosts tried to pin City in but weren’t able to create much in the way of clear chances, while on the counter an Oliver flick-on put Cook through only for him to be brought down on the edge of the box.

While it didn’t look like a penalty – it was just outside the area – it was a foul and should’ve made it 10 vs 10 for the final seconds of stoppage time. However, the inconsistent referee saw nothing wrong with the Crawley player going through Cook’s leg to take the ball, and the chance was gone.

Tactically, neither system quite worked. Banks was not suited to the right of the diamond role, and his tendency to drift inside made a narrow system even narrower, but when we switched to the 4-2-3-1 Derbyshire looked like a fish out of water on the left. His replacement in Costelloe was a more natural fit for the position but lacks the quality to make any sort of impact on games.

Going forward, too many players had an off day. Cook missed two chances that he would normally have buried, and the team’s over-reliance on him was highlighted. Walker ran and ran but wasn’t a threat, while Banks had his moments but his decision-making was poor. Crawley’s defence left gaps, but we just weren’t able to exploit them.

City still remain close to the automatic spots – Stevenage dropped points, and we have a game in hand on Carlisle, who have a tough remaining fixture list – but they are running out of games to make an impact, and with Mansfield winning the prospect of dropping out of the play offs is more realistic than we would like.

This game, like so many others this season against struggling side, represents a missed opportunity. At the end of the season, we can only hope that we aren’t looking back on these games as the reason we didn’t go up.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2022/23, BCAFC, Crawley Town, League Two