By Jake Verity

Where do you even start after that?

I’ll give it a go. But I’m quickly going to run out of superlatives for this side.

Now, look. I’ve made a few passionate points this season. Two of which I’ve stuck by:

The first is that Graham Alexander is the one who can finally take us out of this league.

But secondly and more candidly, after Notts County, I was clear: that time was up for the underperformance of this club. That unless things drastically change, this club is destined for mid-table mediocrity yet again.

Oh, how things have changed. How my confidence has grown. How good it is to be writing this match report.

This is not just a team capable of promotion, but one who could break records. Just look at the facts.

35 points out of a possible 42.

Eight clean sheets in our last 10 league games.

Nine home wins in a row.

Back-to-back away wins.

Before I continue – if you’re in any way thinking about stopping reading at this point – take this away, and nothing else:

Now is a very good time to be a Bradford City fan. It is an excellent time to be a Bradfordian. But above all, it’s a time for us to all pull together and make this promotion that we’ve wanted for ever so long to actually happen.

Why does it matter?

What an incredible result this one was. When you thought it was all over, and most of us probably felt on balance, that it was a point gained after an uncomfortable 90 minutes; we found a way to win it.

As so many good sides who win promotion manage to do, we found a way. Not only is this exactly what you need to achieve as a side who wants to go up, but it is the sort of result that demonstrates to fans that you’re serious about doing so.

After waiting all week for a game, when it comes to a Saturday – there’s nothing more you want than to win. But to do so in those sorts of circumstances is special.

To do it twice in a week? That’s not a coincidence. It’s composure and it’s togetherness. The product of hours on the training ground, but also the sort of experience that money can’t buy. The two match winners this week are one of our own and one who joined in January on loan.

But it doesn’t matter. Because we are now a club that makes its own luck, rather than hoping for it to fall our way. For too long, we’ve been idealists rather than pragmatists. To give an example, in the reverse fixture when a goal we deservedly scored wasn’t given – we felt we’d been robbed of a win.

This Bradford City would have a different mindset. We’d be more frustrated that we hadn’t scored otherwise in ninety minutes. If we draw or lose, we’d be honest about why that is. But we also don’t lose very often at the minute either. Because this team has a never-say-die attitude.

It’s the sort which is ingrained into the very fabric of us as Bradfordians – which Alexander understands and has built a team to match it. It’s our identity playing out on the pitch. Which is why we love this team – they get us, and we get them.

But let’s talk about the match for a bit, before I keep rambling on.

The match report

Paradoxically, for a game that was decided in the last few seconds, Bradford City could have been 3-0 up after the opening stages.

Many fans raised concerns at the sight of no Alex Pattison on the bench – arguably one of our most influential players this season. But that didn’t bother many fans after the Bantams started brightly, with a highlight being a thunderous shot by Tommy Leigh off the bar.

The January signing is still yet to open his account for us, and had a tricky afternoon at times – but I’d encourage all of us to stick with him. He is still young, and has a big part to play this season. Not only has he shown glimpses of promise, but all he needs is one chance between now and May to make the difference. So let’s keep supporting him – that’s the Bradford way.

Following this chance, a few opportunities came and went – and it became a fairly combative game in midfield. After a few strong challenges, City broke through again, with a lively Jamie Walker making some really good movement and getting a shot off, met by an excellent save by Jones in Salford’s net. Walker has been excellent over the past few games, and made our goal on Tuesday too – deserving of credit.

A positive first quarter though quickly saw moods dampened, as Antoni Sarcevic went off injured. It is arguable that alongside Pattison, he has been one of our best players since Christmas – so you have to hope it isn’t a significant or long-term injury. Michael Mellon came on as his replacement, and was very quickly into the action, as he saw a wayward shot find its way to Brandon Khela who couldn’t convert.

That was arguably the best chance of the game at that point, and a few moments later City would regret not making it count, as they went a goal down following Frankie Okoronkwo’s shot into the top corner of Sam Walker’s goal.

This is the first league goal that we had conceded since playing away at Wimbledon exactly a month ago, and the team began to look slightly shaky at the back after this. It wasn’t helped either, as Romoney Crichlow went off injured a few minutes later, after a challenge from a Salford player.

The home team then began to dominate during the rest of the first half, however, City were very close to finding an equaliser with a Michael Mellon shot following a corner saved on the line by Jones once again.

Following the half-time break, City admittedly struggled. But yet again, it was Michael Mellon left with a golden opportunity as Aden Baldwin played a nice ball over the top for a one-on-one. Yet again though, Jones was equal to his effort.

After a few good chances for Salford, it was then Tayo Adaramola’s turn to create a chance for Mellon, which the striker rushed and hit his shot wide of the target. The on-loan Burnley man was definitely getting chances, but just couldn’t find the finish that we needed.

However, a few minutes later, it was Brad Halliday who had turned things level – again after excellent work from Tayo Adaramola down the left-hand side after a triple substitution by Alexander bringing on Calum Kavanagh and George Lapslie for their first appearance in weeks, alongside Tuesday’s match winner, Bobby Pointon.

The Palace loanee made a great run and played in a ball that came off Michael Mellon, finding its way to Halliday. The right-wing back made no mistake – scoring for the second season in a row away at the Ammies.

Following this, it’s fair to say there was almost a layer of subdued cautiousness amongst the 1,300 travelling Bantams. We all know we are on a phenomenal run, and are all too aware that sometimes things can prove too good to be true.

A tricky last 20 minutes felt like the game was slowly slipping away from us, and that we’d be quite happy to take a point back to West Yorkshire – given our earlier win in the week and struggles on the road this season.

But this is a script that keeps writing itself, and as the season enters its denouement, Alexander and his orchestra made sure to leave something special for the band of Bradford City supporters behind the goal.

Richie Smallwood broke up a Salford attack in the final moments of the game, and played the ball through to Calum Kavanagh – who after a recent absence could have seen his name in lights and gone for goal.

But instead, he helped the ball forward to Michael Mellon. Who made no mistake, and opened his account for the club in the most dramatic style possible – sending an away end into raptures.

Deserved plaudits

Before I get into where this leaves us, I have a few quick shoutouts to make:

Richie Smallwood has become the embodiment of a Bradford City captain – and this game cemented it. Not only did the away end sing his name loudly and proudly for most of the match, but he broke up every Salford attack – he played with great weight on his shoulders, and kickstarted the attack that won us the game.

We know he has Championship quality, but after two years with makeshift midfield partners and systems that don’t quite suit him – he is really at his best now. Every good Bradford City team has had a remarkable Bradford City captain. He just needs to get us over the line now, and sure the player of the year award will be his too if that is the case?

Secondly, many of our defenders deserve real credit since the turn of the year, as does Sam Walker. We have gone from conceding relatively frequently, to eight clean sheets in ten league matches. That is a remarkable turnaround – not least considering the rotations to our defence too.

A special mention to Brad Halliday who is showing the form he displayed so often last year; Jack Shepherd who is likely one of the best defenders at this level; Aden Baldwin who has been brilliant of late; and also to Paul Huntington in at 37 years old, who was fantastic on Tuesday and today. But mostly for Tayo Adaramola who was comfortably the player of the match. We are in a very good place at the back.

Finally, I do think Michael Mellon deserves huge plaudits. Many strikers wouldn’t have kept going after having a tough time in front of goal. I also think he probably seemed low on energy (understandable after joining us lacking playing time, and a busy fixture list in recent weeks) but he kept going and gave all he could.

In recent matches, he has been often in the right place, but either unable to find the right finish, or left short by incredible goalkeeping – until it really mattered today. He deserved that winner, and hopefully he can now kick on and score plenty more. If not, Kavanagh is back and looks ready to be a key player for us once again.

What comes next?

Make no mistake, this is a seismic result, and after results today, while we are all getting excited looking up at the league – we have created a healthy gap between ourselves and eighth place – an important and underrated milestone. Over the last few seasons, the play-offs have been our ceiling. But now, they are hopefully our basement.

The most important thing though, is the sense of unity around the club. I will talk more about this in a future piece but everybody, and I truly mean that, deserves credit for getting us to where we are at the moment.

I don’t want this to be a divisive point – because it’s fundamentally true. We can either rightly or wrongly criticise the players or club when things aren’t going well – but we should praise those same people when things go the way we want them to.

Although there is a long way to go and we haven’t won anything yet, I think we should give some credit to the leadership of the club; Ryan Sparks, David Sharpe, Stephen Gent, and of course, Alexander. There’s been a real improvement off the field since the start of the year and I think most fans have noticed this – long may it continue.

But also, praise is deserving to Stefan Rupp for backing us in January and ultimately enabling us to create a really talented squad – which is proving the difference. I cannot remember a time in which we had a Bradford City team rotated so frequently, while maintaining high quality – even under the Parkinson era. A strong January has definitely set us up well for a very intense fixture list.

Beyond the off-field operations, the players obviously deserve immense plaudits for taking us from a being-good side to a great one and overcoming adversity. Whether it’s reacting to Cook’s injury, bouncing back at Birmingham – or making Valley Parade a fortress, they are a great group and some of the younger players have real talent. It is exciting to think about the future.

But never forget, that crucial thing that makes it all work is our fans – which we all know are our greatest asset. The togetherness at full-time is something that has been and gone over the last few years, but this time there was a very new ingredient. Confidence. It feels like something special is happening and we are rightly proud about that – even though again, there’s a long way to go.

This season certainly feels different to anything we’ve had in my time following City, and I’d include the cup runs in that – because this is a team absolutely at the top of its game in the division. Expect bumper crowds between now and May – and an intense run-in to be matched by a ferocious following.

It’s simple though. If we can keep putting these performances together, the sky’s the limit.

For now, it’s keeping our heads on the ground. Because nothing is done yet. Promotion isn’t won in March. But it will be in May – and we need to make sure we’re one of the three clubs celebrating.

It’s onto the next match against Cheltenham on Tuesday. It’s hopefully picking up another three points. It’s about making sure we make every minute count like we did today.

But more than anything, it’s about enjoying this while we can. Enjoy your Sunday.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2024/25, BCAFC, League Two, Salford City