By Jason McKeown

That roar. Wow. I don’t mean the booming Welsh roar that greeted Paul Mullin giving Wrexham a second half lead. Or even – as incredible at it was – the hedonistic roar from West Yorkshire voices in cheering Adam Wilson’s late Bradford City equaliser. But the roar of encouragement that boomed out from home supporters towards their team, just after Mullin had wheeled away to celebrate Wrexham’s goal.

The roar of defiance.

This was an afternoon that really underlined the togetherness that has returned to Bradford City in the wake of Mark Hughes’ sacking. A measure of how much faith the Bradford public once again has towards its team. And nowhere was it better exhibited than when Wrexham went 1-0 up, and the packed out home sections responded with a roar of support for their players.

It was the ninth time in 14 league matches Bradford City had fallen behind. And under Hughes, the exhausted levels of patience saw anger and frustration quickly boil to the surface as soon as opposition players celebrated scoring. Booing was common place. The arrows slung inwards.

Here, for the first time under caretaker manager Kevin McDonald, City were in a losing position. But the crowd not only stayed with the players, they led the resistance.  

The visiting Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson – a legend in these parts after five years of unforgettable success – has heard that type of Valley Parade roar many times before. He knew just what it meant. Knew that the Bradford City spirit was not broken, and that his Wrexham charges were about to face a storm. So many times, Parkinson led Bradford City teams who did great things with the help of this type of Bantams supporter backing. By 5pm here, he’d experienced what it’s like to be on the receiving end.

This was old school Bradford City. Back to their roots and producing the kind of performance that Parkinson made the norm for so long. Every player ran themselves into the ground as they left it all on the pitch. Not always the best quality, not necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing style of football. But high tempo. Full commitment. Honest endeavour.

As supporters, we absolutely loved it. A team giving it absolutely everything is all we really ask for. And here the players delivered just that.

That’s why there was much sympathy and approval radiating from the stands in the most testing of moments of Wrexham scoring. And the crowd stayed with the team as they pushed and pushed for the equaliser. The noise that greeted Wilson’s goal was spine-tingling. Again, late Bradford City levellers are not unheard of this season, but the scenes of celebration here could not have felt more wildly different to the flat cheers of Jamie Walker’s stoppage time equaliser against Harrogate a month ago.

It was just a really special day to be a Bradford City supporter. So much of our existence in League Two is about facing teams with meagre fanbases and lower resources compared to the Bantams. Rightly or wrongly, our big fish in little pond status gives us an expectation we should win every game. Crush all before us. And that makes the subsequent struggles, and habitual lack of bravery, so frustrating to watch.

Wrexham, newly promoted back to the Football League after a 15-year absence, should have fit that same League Two opposition bill. But with the Hollywood money and the global hype, there’s clearly something different about them. Parkinson walked to the dugouts before the game flanked by a camera crew filming season three of the Disney Plus Welcome to Wrexham series. They are not normal opponents. And the hype and financial clout around them allowed City to slip back into a role where they have always felt more comfortable.

The underdog.

With 2,600 Wrexham fans making an impressive racket at one end, the sense of big occasion, us-against-the-world grew. And McDonald and City read the room so well. City played attacking football. Taking the game to their publicity-hungry opponents. Inspiring an almighty din from their own supporters.

So often, games of football don’t match the build up – but this was a welcome exception. It really was absorbing to watch. Wrexham bettered the first half, with Mullin and Steven Fletcher – whose last appearance at this ground was in February 2015, as a Premier League player for Sunderland toppled by Parkinson’s City in the FA Cup – missing presentable opportunities. Both Wrexham forwards also had strong penalty appeals waved away, each time after slightly clumsy challenges from Sam Stubbs.

Stubbs was operating with a different central defensive partner than usual, with Ash Taylor deputising for the suspended Matty Platt. Taylor became something of a joke figure in pre-season after a string of shaky displays, and he’s not been seen in the league since a woeful debut at Crawley Town seemed to confirm suspicions City had signed a dud. Taylor actually did okay here…. actually, scrap that: he actually did very well here. The August rush to write him off was understandable, but as he settled into this game he really grew in stature and showed he has something to offer.

Defences were undoubtedly on top in the first half – Andy Cook could not get any change out of Eoghan O’Connell, who was outstanding for Wrexham – but it was still really good to watch. Emmanuel Osadebe was rewarded for two goals in the last two games with a first league start of the season and did pretty well, as long as he wasn’t given too much time to think (see two rash shots well wide of the target). Jamie Walker failed to hit the heights of the last few weeks, but City’s high pressing saw opportunities with Bobby Pointon getting some joy.

As the minutes ticked by, City got even better – especially after half time. Pointon really began to pull the strings, once again demonstrating he is not in the team to make up numbers, but to have a real influence. Pointon linked up especially well with the superb Brad Halliday, and the 19-year-old created more chances than any other City player on the pitch. Some excellent pieces of skill to beat players, and some truly exceptional passes. Pointon perhaps could have opened the scoring when played in at an angle, but he chose to pass, with the ball eventually landing at Walker who forced a decent save out of Arthur Okonkwo.

In the final 30 minutes, the Bantams had 65% possession, registered 10 shots on goal to Wrexham’s three, and won seven corners to Wrexham’s one. So it felt unjust when the visitors suddenly scored against the run of play. City had been on the attack and gaps were left behind them. Ryan Barnett – whose up and down full back play caused problems all afternoon – was left one-on-one with Liam Ridehalgh, he sent over a cross that Mullin got on the end of to head the ball past Harry Lewis.

Cue the Wrexham celebrations.

Cue the Bradford City supporter roar.

City chins remained up. They pushed hard to come back. The three forwards behind Cook – Osadebe, Walker and Pointon – were in turn replaced for the fresh legs of Adam Wilson, Tyler Smith and Rayhaan Tulloch. (Imagine the reaction to the decision to take Pointon off if Hughes had still been in charge?!) The rewards eventually came.

The City equaliser was all about substitutes. Wrexham’s Jacob Mendy – who had only been on the pitch three minutes and touched the ball just once – was caught out in dealing with a bouncing ball. Tulloch – who himself had only just come on – pressed Mendy and won possession. He was able to send the ball into the path of fellow sub Wilson, who struck a low central shot that was blocked. The 23-year-old made no mistake as the ball ricocheted back into his path. Bang! A powerful drive rocketed past Okonkwo and into the roof of the net.

Cue utter bedlam. Scenes of ecstatic celebration that will not be quickly forgotten. It was by some distance the best moment of Bradford City’s season so far.   

In the final stages, City continued to push. Cook had several half-hearted penalty appeals, and a late free kick into the Wrexham box sparked panic and almost an own goal that would have won it for the Bantams. Wrexham were a classic Parkinson team that dug in and got something from a game when they looked short of their best. Their underlying quality was undeniable.

All in all, a draw was the right result.

McDonald’s 100% record as City boss is over, and yet in many ways this was his most impressive afternoon in the dugout yet. The style of play was a little more in keeping with Hughes. More playing it out from the back. (The % of long balls tried by City has been 22% in the two recent league wins under McDonald, but dropped back slightly to 19% here – still someway above the 12% of City’s last home game, against Walsall, under Hughes.) But the front foot, high press approach is exactly what fans crave.

We had a go. A right go. And when things didn’t quite go to plan and Wrexham went ahead, the sky did not fall in. McDonald’s subs were decent. The players are absolutely playing for him. The slight bits of adversity City went through were a test of McDonald’s managerial character. There was no signs of fluster and panic. He seemed to trust his players to keep going, and they rewarded him.

So many players are excelling. Pointon got the sponsors man of the match here but there was strong competition. Stubbs and Taylor were strong against two excellent strikers. Alex Gilliead and Richie Smallwood excelled in the centre of the park. Osadebe is showing what he can do. You do worry that Cook – who has not scored since McDonald took charge – is still not 100% fit. Vadaine Oliver would fit in quite well with this refined approach, and the injured striker is badly needed to provide competition for Cook.  

It’s still really unclear if McDonald wants the job, or if the club is closing in on appointing someone else – weekend noises about Danny Cowley have seen his odds shrink massively overnight. In many ways, nothing has changed even with this latest example of McDonald’s potential. Certainly there is still no rush to make the arrangement any more permanent, and with Smallwood suspended for Tuesday night’s trip to MK Dons, McDonald the player evidently still has a key role.

For now, we can bask in the joy of this match. A real treat, after so much meagre fare has been served up this season. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with one of the pre-season promotion favourites, and can justifiably walk away believing we could have won it. With trips to 18th-placed MK Dons and bottom side Sutton United coming up this week, there’s every reason to be confident the team can push on.

The final thought brings us back to Parkinson, who before and after the game made a real point of applauding City supporters. He got a fantastic reception in return. Deserved recognition for all the good times he gave us.

As City have struggled over the last few years, our recent history has felt like a double edged sword. Moments like Chelsea, Arsenal and Aston Villa a comfort blanket to dive into during adverse times, but also a source of frustration that so much great work was thrown away, with City right back where they started. There’s also a concern from some that living in the past is distracting everyone from focusing fully on addressing the problems in the present.

Having Parkinson back on our turf for this game reopened this debate for many. But perhaps, as we shake Parkinson’s hand and wave him off into the sunset again, we need to look at days like this in a forwards way rather than backwards. Because the type of togetherness that we reminisce about having under Parkinson, well it’s back right now.

Days like this show that there’s no reason why we can’t experience more times every bit as good as the ones we endlessly ruminate over. Because even though Parkinson seemingly took away everything that made his tenure so special – even the contents of the scouting filing cabinets – there’s one vital ingredient that he couldn’t take with him.

Us.  

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2023/24, BCAFC, League Two, Wrexham