By Adam Raj

Half time at Meadow Lane was rock bottom. Bradford City were rudderless and were 4-0 down to a side who had just come up from the National League. Fast forward four weeks and City have now won five on the bounce and have kept four successive clean sheets. Of course, we should add the caveat of there only being three league games in that spell, but it’s a mightily impressive turnaround nonetheless.

“Sometimes when you’re in a corner and there’s nothing to do but fight, then you fight.” Graham Alexander is absolutely right with those words. Full application, commitment and effort will never in itself guarantee a win in football, but it will at least give you a fighting chance. It’s the absolute bare necessity that Bradford City supporters demand and Alexander has managed to get this squad to respond to his non negotiable style.

What Alexander has done is not particularly complicated. And in saying that, I don’t mean to take anything away from the job he has done, but more highlight how naïve the previous regime were. The City boss has managed to add the characteristics that every successful side in this division undoubtedly has – pace, width, physicality and high energy in and out of possession. Irrespective of style when in possession, no team at any level succeeds without these fundamental characteristics, yet Mark Hughes and co just couldn’t see it.

In possession, there’s still plenty of work to do as Alexander himself keeps stressing. This afternoon, City were very direct. And I mean VERY direct. In contrast to the last outing against Liverpool U21s, where City played some good football, today was all about winning the scrap against a Gillingham side with very similar plans.

Both sides played long ball football, but Macauley Bonne is no Andy Cook and City were definitely better equipped for that style than their hosts. Cook, who was back at the ground where he scored that memorable solo goal last season, gave Gills captain Max Ehmer a torrid time.

In contrast, Matty Platt, Ciaran Kelly and Jonathan Tomkinson had excellent afternoons. Tomkinson especially deserves lots of plaudits having been in the cold since signing on deadline day. This was his first league start and you wouldn’t have known it. The American was solid throughout and stood up even taller when dealing with the mountain that is Oli Hawkins late on.

Eyebrows were raised when Tomkinson got the nod ahead of Sam Stubbs, but the Norwich loanee adds real pace and athleticism which is otherwise missing from City’s backline. Even though that side of his game wasn’t tested today, it will no doubt be an asset to the team in the long run.

In front of goal, it was a rather low key affair where both sides are concerned. City should’ve been one up in the opening minutes as Tyler Smith sent Brad Halliday through on goal but his low angled drive whizzed past the far post.

Harry Lewis then made a Harry Lewis-esque save to deny the hosts going in front. Bonne met a corner at the near post and his flicked header was clawed off the line by City’s number one with a fantastic reflex save. Stephen Clemence can complain in the post-match press that he thinks that effort crossed the line, but the away fans in the scaffolding behind the goal had the best view. The referee and linesman got it right.

As the half wore on, it didn’t look like a goal would be coming anytime soon. That was until Gillingham attempted to play out from the back and were met with City’s intense and relentless press. A skewed clearance by keeper Jake Turner was just about kept in play by Scott Malone but in doing so, the Gills left back played the ball straight to Alex Gilliead. Halliday joined on the overlap and his low cross picked out Jamie Walker in the box to place a low finish into the back of the net.

Under Hughes, City would occasionally press. It would be a half baked plan with one or two individuals trying to press on their own. Structurally, it was non existent. For me, this is the biggest and most impressive tactical improvement under Alexander. The team now presses as a team and everyone is clear in their roles, positioning and triggers. This is something that has clearly had the hours on the training ground spent on it.

If the first half was a low key affair, the start to the second was anything but. In a truly bizarre opening fifteen minutes, referee Scott Jackson managed to show seven yellow cards. He threatened to lose control of a game that had previously gone without incident.

Footballing wise, not a lot was happening. Gillingham forced a handful of free kicks and corners but failed to test Lewis, despite their territorial pressure.

At the other end, a Richie Smallwood free kick into the wall had been and gone but City struggled maintain any sort of pressure. Shortly after, Walker was taken out with a late challenge on the edge of the box and Cook was not allowing his captain to take this one. The City number nine stepped up and drilled a strike under the jumping wall and beyond the outstretched arm of Turner.

It killed the home crowd and any slight momentum the hosts were building – it was the perfect time to score and allowed City to see out the game with absolutely no fuss whatsoever. A very comfortable last 15 minutes indeed.

Momentum, both good and bad, is massive in football. A tweet I saw in the week joked that it was the eighth wonder of the world! But what is undeniable is that a shift in momentum is so powerful, it can completely change the course of a season, for better or worse.

Right now, City have that momentum. Winning games and keeping clean sheets is about as good as it gets. City need to continue to ride this wave, continue to improve and evolve – and who knows where it can take us.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2023/23, BCAFC, Gillingham, League Two