By Jason McKeown

In just over a week, Bradford City will be able to call upon the services of the top goalscorer in English football’s 92 – but do they actually need him? As Jake Young braces himself for a likely return to West Yorkshire, the Bantams have a pair of in-form strikers forging a clinical partnership – with their latest haul of goals, away at Doncaster Rovers, lifting City above Young’s Swindon and right into promotion contention.

Take a bow, Andy Cook and Tyler Smith. In the gusty South Yorkshire wind, the strike pair blew the hapless Rovers away with three well-taken goals. It confirmed a sixth straight Bradford City victory – their best run for 39 years. Everything is coming together for the dynamic duo, and for the club – suggesting a troubled first half of the season may yet lead to success.

And as the last two Bradford City promotions of 1998/99 and 2012/13 showed, having a potent strike partnership can take you a long, long way.

It is too soon to put Cook and Smith in the same bracket of a Lee Mills and Robbie Blake, or a James Hanson and Nahki Wells, but the comparisons are becoming more credible with each match-winning performance from the 2023/24 vintage. Like Blake/Mills and Wells/Hanson, a little and large combination is proving to be a devastatingly effective cocktail of ingredients.

Just witness Smith’s goal right on half time that put City into a lead they rarely looked like surrendering. Cook received the ball in the final third with his back to goal. He had three defenders for company, but possessed the strength and composure to control the ball and wait for the right moment. A clever turn gave Cook some space, and he produced a beautiful low through ball for Smith to run onto. The finish was terrific, as Smith arrowed the ball into the far corner.

Smith’s superb strike was ultimately sandwiched between two more goals for Cook, who is certainly shaking off his early season troubles and looks firmly back to himself. He headed City level midway through the first half when he got free of his marker and met Jamie Walker’s corner delivery. Then late on, a wonderful passing move involving Brad Halliday, Smith and Alex Gilliead saw Doncaster cut to pieces, and the ball was presented to Cook to rifle home. A brilliant goal to cap off a brilliant evening.

The numbers make such good reading right now. Cook is now up to 12 goals – only four fewer than he had this time last season – and has scored in four consecutive matches. Including his well-taken effort against Barnsley in the EFL Trophy last month, Cook now has six goals in six games.

We’ll come back to Andy, but let’s first talk about Smith’s own brilliant form. He’s now on 10 goals for the season – nine of which have come in his last 10 appearances. It’s a remarkable upturn in form for a player who looked so meek early doors – and it’s the reason why Young’s Swindon exploits are no longer rued to quite the same degree as they were in early autumn, when City could barely buy a goal.

In total, Cook and Smith have netted 11 times in the last six City games. Or, to put it another way, 11 of the last 18 City goals have been scored by one of the pair. It’s the first time since 2014/15 that two Bradford City players have reached double figures in the same season.

And it’s not even Christmas.

The prolific form of Cook and Smith meant that Doncaster never rarely stood a chance here. Weirdly, they actually took the lead when a poor backpass from Halliday was managed badly by Harry Lewis, allowing Joe Ironside to curl the ball into an unguarded net from a tight angle. Not a great moment for Lewis, that in some ways sums his up and down form this season. But Doncaster hopes of chalking up a much-needed morale-boosting win, after last week’s 5-0 home loss to Morecambe, were all too quickly dashed.

In a scrappy game, City always held the edge. Always had the greater quality. They didn’t panic, they didn’t wilt, they just kept plugging away and soon came back. Grant McCann will be unhappy with his side’s defending for the Cook equaliser and for the same numerous mistakes his side made at the back all night. It was an edgy, nerve-ridden Doncaster side playing to a thinbare home crowd that was quickly on their backs.

All City had to was bide their time and take their chances, which is what Cook and Smith did. The midfield were excellent behind them, with Richie Smallwood and Gilliead continuing to cement their key player status under Graham Alexander – on the same day Ryan East’s permanent departure was confirmed. Just ahead of them, Walker had another excellent game although caused some worry when he hobbled off injured with 20 minutes to go.

Whilst Halliday didn’t quite reach the heights he is capable of, he and Lewis Richards did fine jobs at wing back, with the back three looking settled and Jon Tomkinson further nailing down his starting place in the side after such a long wait. The only genuine second half scare came when Matty Platt slipped and Ironside ran through, but Ciaran Kelly showed great pace and athleticism to run back and make a brilliant sliding challenge.

Given all of the problems earlier this season, for City to deliver six straight wins to climb up to eighth is an astonishing turn of events that no one saw coming. Let’s not forget, the beginnings of this winning run were played out to a soundtrack of major supporter discontent, strong talk of protests and a not-unrealistic fear of being sucked into a relegation battle. The Bantams had lost five out of their previous six games and all season long had only netted more than one goal in a league game on three occasions.

Alexander has had a huge impact and deserves massive credit for what he is doing. Ryan Sparks and Stefan Rupp – who sacked Mark Hughes without a plan of what to do next and offered the job to Danny Cowley first – must barely be able to believe their luck. At a point where their popularity was at an all-time low, the man they didn’t even originally want to give the job to has rescued their reputations and saved the season.

Once the Christmas Day turkey has been devoured, City can look forward to two home games in a week that really could spell lift off if they can win them both. Exciting times lie ahead.

All of which leaves the final word – as promised – to Cook. His brace tonight were his 62nd and 63rd goals for the club. That puts him level with Sean McCarthy and John Hall – meaning Cook now enters the top 10 all-time Bradford City goalscorers. Between now and the end of the season, he should overtake David McNiven, Bobby Ham, Gerry Ingham and Joe Cooke to rise up to sixth on the list. He might even break the top five – where Jon Hallows currently stands on 74.

There was plenty of criticism of Cook earlier this season. The goals weren’t flowing, he wasn’t involved enough in the build up play, he didn’t look confident, and at times he didn’t look fit. The wisdom of that three-year deal began to be questioned. You could sense the pressure was getting to him. It all led to an angry exchange of words with unhappy City supporters away at Notts County. He was also said to be unhappy with some of the local media coverage of his struggles.

Since that tough afternoon at Meadow Lane, the swagger has returned.

Even with all his many, many goals, Cook somehow doesn’t seem to get enough credit for what a good footballer he actually is. But the determination of Alexander to go with two up top has taken some of the burden off his shoulders and allowed him to show he has even more to his game. Having spent most of his three years at the club playing as a lone striker, Cook now has someone up top to work with and is thriving as much in being a creator as he is being a goalscorer. (He did also get a lot of assists last season, but his build up play contributions seem more prominent right now.)

We hoped that the club’s success in keeping Cook last summer would prove to be one of its best pieces of summer business, and on that front the signs are starting to look much more promising. As Cook climbs up the all-time goalscorer standings, we truly are in the presence of one of the best strikers in Bradford City’s long, up and down history.

Come January, Alexander’s biggest problem will no longer be how to get last season’s League Two golden boot winner performing, but which in-form striker to go with as Cook’s partner.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2023/24, BCAFC, Doncaster Rovers, League Two