By Tim Penfold

Bradford City had to fight hard for a point at Newport today. A man down after Jack Shepherd’s harsh first half dismissal, they showed tremendous heart to come away with a draw, and also to show a lot of attacking threat whilst doing so.

Graham Alexander made four changes to the starting lineup from midweek. Paul Huntington came in for Callum Johnson in defence, with Aden Baldwin shifting to the right of the back three, while Antoni Sarcevic replaced Alex Pattison in central midfield. Meanwhile there was a full debut for Michael Mellon up front in place of Calum Kavanagh, and deadline day loanee Tayo Adaramola made his first appearance for the club at left wing back.

Despite the heavy rotation, the team seemed comfortable enough, although Newport did have a good early chance that Courtney Baker-Richardson fired straight at Sam Walker. City went up the other end and Sarcevic played a neat one-two with Mellon which set him free behind the home defence. He fired the ball past the keeper, but the whistle had already gone as the offside flag had gone up – incorrectly, as replays seem to have shown. Sarcevic had an easier time finishing because Newport had hesitated on hearing the whistle, but this was at the very least a brilliant chance that had been prevented by poor officiating – something that would become a theme.

The second game-changing mistake came from the referee. Newport broke from midfield and a through ball saw Shepherd and Baker-Richardson competing for it. Shepherd dragged the home forward back, and everyone expected a booking – it was a long way from goal, Baker-Richardson did not have the ball under his control and Huntington was slightly further back and covering the direct route there. Referee Andrew Humphries, however, decided that this was a clear goalscoring opportunity, and sent Shepherd off.

Humphries has form for this – he’s officiated six games at League Two level, and in his last two games before today he gave red cards that were subsequently overturned. It wasn’t just the red card either – he allowed the Newport defenders to flatten Mellon repeatedly, once while in the penalty area, with no punishment, and any City attempts at a high press were stopped by bizarre foul calls. At one point during the second half Brad Halliday came in and nicked the ball off Bobby Kamwa, who pulled the City wing-back’s shirt to stop him breaking forward. Instead of a free kick to the Bantams and a possible booking for Kamwa, the free kick somehow went to the hosts.

It’s worrying if this is the standard of referee that the EFL wants to promote from non-league. If these performances had been produced by a young City player, he would be destined for an uninspiring loan at Brighouse followed by a release, but Humphries will instead get more games at this level, and his random decision-making will, I’m sure, irritate various other fanbases. Unfortunately, today we were his victims, and we can only hope that the dropped points don’t cost us too much.

Alexander gave the team some time to adjust, but had to reorganise the back line midway through the first half, with Bobby Pointon the unfortunate player sacrificed so that Romoney Crichlow could restore the back three shape. Newport, meanwhile, came close to scoring when Matt Baker hit the post after a short corner routine, while at the other end Mellon managed to find some space in the box but couldn’t get enough power in his shot.

The second half continued much the same as the first. Newport didn’t really make the man advantage count, while City worked hard and kept going. Mellon was a constant pest, causing defenders problems with his running and aerial ability despite getting no joy from the officials, and he had two decent opportunities – one was sliced wide, and the other was straight at the keeper. The other debutant, Adaramola, rampaged up and down the left flank, although his final ball and decision making left a little to be desired.

Newport, meanwhile, had more pressure as the half went on, but generally found City’s defence to be a brick wall. Crosses were headed clear, dribbles went nowhere and they got more and more frustrated as time went on. They very nearly made it through in stoppage time, but Crichlow produced a superb piece of one-on-one defending to outmuscle the forward just outside the box and prevent the chance. Crichlow then nearly snatched all three points for City with the last kick of the game, heading a Smallwood corner goalwards only for home keeper Nick Townsend to push it over the bar.

The Bantams remain in the automatic promotion places with a point, taking advantage of Notts County and Doncaster slipping up. The rotated side produced a good display, and this level of squad depth in defence should serve us well through the next few weeks of fixture congestion.

It’s easy to look at this as two points dropped due to poor officiating, but City sides of past seasons would’ve folded today. This one fought hard, and held out for a point in difficult circumstances. It could make all the difference at the end of the season.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2024/25, BCAFC, League Two, Newport County