| Stockport County 1 |
| Moxon 16 |
| Bradford City 2 |
| Swan 49, Sarcevic 72 |
By Alex Scott
Well, what about that, eh? What about that. City continued their sparkling run to start the season with a statement win away at Stockport to send the Bantams into the top four.
It’s early days, but back-to-back wins against Luton and Stockport – the two favourites for the division – really puts down a marker. A trip to Edgley Park is about as tough as a game as they will have all year long, and to come away with three points says everything about how well they have started this season.
This certainly was the archetypal…. drumroll…. game of two halves (drink every time you hear that over the next few days). But by the end, City held on for a probably deserved 2-1 win, immediately taking its place as one of the signature wins of Graham Alexander’s tenure.
City embarked on their trip across the Pennines in about as optimistic a mood as they could have imagined before the season. Three wins and a winning draw. They not only look capable of surviving the step up to League One, but positively thriving.
Saturday’s 2-1 win over Luton was the proof of concept for what Graham Alexander is trying to do. Building on the intensity, organisation and opportunism with which they started the season, they added more skill, patience in possession, and totally outplayed a team in the Premier League two years ago.
City couldn’t really have asked for a better start to the season, and the vibes were impeccable. Their opponents, on the other hand, whilst entering the game with the same record as the visitors, the mood was somewhat fierier in Stockport with Dave Challinor accusing his players of “giving up” in the second half of their 2-2 draw at Orient. (make a note of that one…)
That pre-match optimism lasted approximately 75 seconds before the reality began to dawn on every City fan watching. The first half was about as one-sided as you’re going to see. Stockport was absolutely excellent. It wasn’t even that City played badly necessarily, they were never allowed to play at all. Owen Moxon’s goal after quarter of an hour was the dictionary definition of a goal that “was coming”. Challinor had been looking for a reaction from his team and he got one.
His counterpart Alexander responded at half time by bringing on Alex Pattison and Will Swan for Jenson Metcalfe and Bobby Pointon – who combined to touch the ball less than 30 times in the first half – moving to two up front with a single number 10 to try and change the flow of the game.
This paid almost immediate dividends, with a bright free kick from Max Power set Stephen Humphrys in behind to set up his new strike partner Swan with a tap in to make it 1-1. This really settled City who started the second half looking like the team from the first few games of the season, and were well on top. However good Stockport were in the first half, City were to begin the second.
You could argue looking back, if you wanted to, that City won this game in the first half by battling and fighting their way to only a one goal deficit. And battle they did. But that would do a disservice to how good they were in this second half. Many, many teams across the country would have capitulated at that point. It would have been so, so easy to phone in that second half and lose 3-0. They were up against an excellent team, playing excellently, in a hostile environment on a Tuesday night after a big win at the weekend. This team is made of sterner stuff. The sternest stuff.
The turning point came in the 72nd minute, after another Josh Neufville high press earned a corner, Stockport cleared it to Pattison midway through the opposition half who played a fantastic first time ball over the top to a breaking Antoni Sarcevic who almost burst the net with a powerful finish to give City the lead against his former team.
If you didn’t watch this game, I really can’t overstate what a turnaround this was. They were a few last ditch tackles, and several more Sam Walker saves, away from being overwhelmed in that first half. But they not only hung in, they managed to compose themselves and come out and outplay Stockport and take an improbable lead. Huge credit to Alexander for not only the tactical tweaks that changed the game, but for creating an environment in which these players can show such resilience and fight.
Stockport threw away a two goal lead on Saturday, and you could see as soon as City got level and began their now-familiar high press, Stockport were rattled. City fought their way back into a game they had no right being in, and their opponents looked shell shocked. They began to chase the game, emptying their high powered bench, leaving City to revert to holding on, bringing on Tommy Leigh and Aden Baldwin for Sarcevic and Humphrys, who had put in the shift to end all shifts up front.
The defence, yet again, held up remarkably well under pressure. Curtis Tilt – my personal player of the year so far – handled Kyle Wootton and Nathan Lowe admirably and marshalled the defence expertly under increasing pressure.
As the game wore on, you felt Stockport were always going to get the chance, and it came with the final touch of the game, with a great ball across the box to the unmarked Benony Andreeson at the back post with the goal gaping. But Super Sam Walker arrived on scene, with his forcefield turned up to 11 and somehow managed to tip the ball onto the post and then corral the rebound as the final whistle blew.
These fine margins, the width of a post, can be such a factor early in a season to frame everything that follows. Walker spoke before the season on how he views himself as a player who thrives in big moments, and he just got his second moment of this season. What a ridiculous, unbelievable save.
City won’t get promoted in August, but they have already shown enough to allay any fears on making the step up to League One. Those more pessimistic or cautious fans heading into the season (myself very much included) are already being proven very wrong. This team are so well organised, so resilient, and fight so hard, they will be in every game they play this year.
What a second half, and what a start to the season. On to (a pointless) Peterborough on Saturday!
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What a match that was! We were getting slaughtered in that first half and I really couldn’t believe it was only 1.0 at halftime. Then a second half that will live in my memory for a long time! City not only matched the battering we got in the first half but dare I say……..we gave them much more of a hiding in the second half!
I agree with you Alex that Curtis Tilt is also fast becoming a real favourite of mine and that’s hard to say when that team has so many “favourites” to pick from! He’s everything we want from a City player!
Who knows where we’ll end up this season based on what we’ve seen so far??? Truly stunning stuff! Roll on Saturday!
I said after the Wycombe game, Tilt will be player of the season. He’s rock solid.
I have never witnessed a turn around to that extent.
Stockport were so much better than us, I feared the early season euphoria was a mirage and that the league had already worked us out.
…then as the first half reached the latter stages and they hadn’t added a second and you remembered they blew a two goal lead at the weekend, i thought maybe we could grab an equaliser or at least not leave completely demoralised.
but it turns out, we have GA in charge, we have options and we have lot of character.
Amazing team effort but Sam Walker still deserves a special mention
when you look at the league table there are a lot of names with history, reputation, budget and / or a mix of the three. And yet here we are swashbuckling in the middle of it all.
obviously it’s very early days. But I think we’ve played some tidy teams who will be challengers. Stockport and Luton to name but two.
very impressed with City’s start and there seems to be a really good belief/mental resilience running through the players. Long May this continue.
of all the good signings and solid additions to the squad can we please take a moment to reflect and heap huge praise on Sam Walker. He’s been quietly brilliant since his first game. I am happy to be corrected but I cannot recall a poor performance from him. Every great team has an ultra reliable keeper. Let’s hope that applies to Bradford city 25/26 vintage ….
keep it up team. Really impressive start
CTID
He dropped the ball in his own net v Carlisle. That’s about it. So reliable. I agree with your singling him out for particular praise. Meanwhile poor old Harry Lewis is sitting on a bench two leagues below.
thanks for the reminder!
yeah poor Lewis. It’s odd isn’t it football. Turns so quickly
nothing against the lad but it just proves that clubs have to take the money when it is there and is “an offer that can’t be turned down” there’s always another player waiting to prove their worth.
One word, Wow !
The big question is what did Graham Alexander say at half time to the players?Who wouldn’t have paid to listen in to that? It was a completely different team in the second half.
For me, Sam Walker was magnificent- he was the difference between winning and losing. Bit also that Sarcovic goal.
My boys were jubilient. We already have a bet on promotion come season end.
The first half was a mismatch, bordering on a humiliation. It was the 22nd minute (!) before we even strung a couple of passes together. We couldn’t get in the game. I’m struggling to recall Jenson Metcalfe even touching the ball. And yet in the second half there were significant periods where we had Stockport on the ropes. We seemed bigger and stronger, even though our broad approach of hooking the ball upfield was the same. It’s not just his shot-stopping, but also Sam Walker’s ever-confident kicking that gives us a boost. Tilt was a warrior again; Sarcevic classy as ever, including in his (non) celebration on scoring. Great to get the result; kudos to all.
Sarcevic classy is very true with his non-celebrating to his goal and then when he was clapped off by the whole ground said it all really! Love to see that in modern football! Players like that and then we have the mercenaries we see all too often these days.
All credit to Alexander last night – he realised the approach we went out with wasn’t going to change what happened on the pitch. Stockport were the best side I’ve seen out of possession in the lower leagues and pretty good in possession too!He brought on more physicality knowing we wouldn’t outfootball them. That’s no shame on Pointon or Metcalfe and if they’d been playing in a blue last night they’d have probably stood out but it just wasn’t the game for them in Claret and Amber.
Swan didn’t stop, Patto showed why he was possibly our most important player when fit last year. The different options we have are exciting and showed there’s still a huge role for these players.
Enjoyed their manager spitting his dummy out post match after being out thought by GA. There’s more than one way to win a match – GA found it and Challinor/Stockport didn’t have the answers. We battered them second half! Also ironic that a bloke who made a career on launching a ball out of his hands, rather than playing with his feet, was critical of our more direct approach.
We didn’t aimlessly go forward we went more direct with thought. Missing out their midfield who pressed and swarmed us so well in the first half and we exploited the opportunity that that presented. Well done GA.
I also thought it ironic that Dave Challinor, of all people, criticised a team for getting the ball into the final third as quickly as possible
well done lads. Proud of you.
the only thing that worried me was Kelly. He had a poor game and almost cost us with the last minute chance
no idea why we re signed him with plenty of better options or a loan available
hopefully Wright can play on Saturday
Great win last night! I’m going to call back to something Jason (I think) said on this site and just enjoy the moment… I remember looking at our league fixtures and thinking tough start and here we are having beaten Wycombe, Luton and Stockport and sitting joint 2nd on 10 points. But of course, it’s early days, and our first season in League 1 saw us 4th in mid October but we’d go on to finish 11th. However, I believe we’ve got a better team this time round and we seem to be far better backed, given how many players we signed compared with the last time we got promoted. So, I’m just enjoying the moment and hoping we can keep up this form for as long as we can.
On a side note, I checked all the wins we’ve had so far this season and we’ve not had more than 38.3% possession in any of our 4 wins.
To summarise:
Wycombe 68.7% vs City 32.3%
Luton 61.7% vs City 38.3%
Blackburn 65.4% vs City 34.6%
Stockport 65.5% vs City 34.5%
We know from recent years we win far more of the games where we have less of the ball and this seems to be the trend this season as well. Arguably having less of the ball against better teams, who will have a go, you could see us do well this year if this trend continues. Meanwhile, against Northampton, which we should have won, we had 47.1%. Is the new precedent that we need less than 40% to win?
Jokes aside, last night was a great turnaround, massive credit to the lads for turning the game on it’s head last night. Alexander and the coaching staff deserve massive credit for the tactical shift, which saw us become so dominant. Made me think back to last season when Alexander was criticised for not changing our gameplan against Doncaster when we lost 2-1 at home. Alexander has shown he is willing to learn, adapt and change while being our manager.
Great article Alex. Where do you start with this game? First half, I was grumpy and frustrated, second half ecstatic! Full of emotions. Compliments to GA for his tactical changes at half time. He addressed the issues early and shows he’s adapting to this level. Last year he wasn’t doing that. Pointon and Metcalfe are still young and developing, there’s time for these two. The change was so dramatic and once again the boys proved they can bounce back with character. Special mention for Tilt my MOM with Walker who’s pulling out classic saves to be talked about in years to come. Proud of the boys and look forward to seeing them back down at the Valley against Wimbledon. But we’ve got to adapt to lower teams like Peterborough, who have had a bad start, no complacency. Keep the feel good factor going.
Wow. I can’t remember seeing a team run through us like in the first half since Swansea smashed us 5-0 at Wembley. At half time I was dreading a similar outcome as we couldn’t get near the ball. Credit to Stockport for the first 45 mins and thank heavens they ran out of steam while GA found a way not just to stop them but to deservedly win. My MOM has to be Sam. Just WOW.
Happy days – son Matthew & I at Peterborough on Saturday – pop in the cathedral before the game & say hi to Catherine of Aragon
Cooky to come back! We have a squad 💪 can’t get by with 12-13 players anymore could do with us beating stoke as they will prioritise the league and getting a big team on TV to get a war chest for January and if we in with a realistic chance for top 6 then we could possibly splash the cash ,! Also we have the feel good factor back not seen since Millwall Graham has brought the buzz we needed long may it continue.
Great article Alex, perfectly described.
First started watching City back in ’81, & have so many wonderful (& not so wonderful) memories. But that second half performance ranks right up there with the best. The lads are all playing with such determination, confidence & freedom at the moment.
If we can keep this going, I reckon we could all be in dreamland come May. It’s very early days back in League 1 of course, but what an amazing start!
Great article Alex, perfectly described.
First started watching City back in ’81, & have so many wonderful (& not so wonderful) memories. But that second half performance ranks right up there with the best. The lads are all playing with such determination, confidence & freedom at the moment.
If we can keep this going, I reckon we could all be in dreamland come May. It’s very early days back in League 1 of course, but what an amazing start!