By Tim Penfold

It’s always frustrating to concede a late equaliser, and Bradford City ran out of steam late on against Peterborough, but there was a lot to be pleased about from today’s draw.

Graham Alexander rotated his side heavily, making five changes from the impressive midweek win over Stockport. Aden Baldwin came in for Ciaran Kelly, moving Curtis Tilt out to the left of the back three, while Alex Pattison made his first start of the season in place of Jenson Metcalfe.

The really big call though, was to swap the entire front three, with George Lapslie, Will Swan and Tyreik Wright starting. With two games a week at the moment, this could be seen as necessary rotation but could also be a gamble.

It took some time for the much-changed City to really get going. Peterborough had the better of the early exchanges, with tricky winger Abraham Odoh causing some problems, but didn’t create any really clear openings. There were blocked shots and saved shots, but nothing like Stockport’s domination and City did occasionally threaten on the counter. Sam Walker sent Wright away with a ball over the top, but the City forward tried to win a penalty rather than take a shot under heavy pressure and the chance went away.

It wasn’t quite working for City – Swan, Wright and Lapslie were working hard but it wasn’t producing anything. The long diagonal ball to Josh Neufville saw some success but the final ball wasn’t there. Then, suddenly, with about half an hour gone, something clicked into place and things worked. Wright was wriggling free of markers, while Swan harried, chased and had a shot blocked cutting inside. Matt Pennington had half-chances from two corners, and Peterborough prediliction for playing out from the back nearly hurt them as they lost the ball to the high press and Alex Pattison had a shot saved.

The second half was more of the same – lots of effort and running from City, with Peterborough pinned further and further back and not reading the warning signs. They were bailed out a few times by a referee who seemed to see all contact as a foul, and had a lucky escape when Pattison nearly created an opening after winning the ball back, but they continued to play their way and did not heed the lessons.

Another attempt to play out under pressure was broken up by Pattison. He nicked the ball to Lapslie, who slipped it through to Swan. The summer arrival from Crawley was composed in front of goal, and it was 1-0.

The intensity stayed high, roared on by a nearly 2000-strong away following. Ibou Touray snapped into tackles, while Neufville ran and ran. Peterborough wobbled badly, and Darren Ferguson summoned subs, but it was still all City. But the second goal did not come.

The first sign of a problem came with the removal of Pattison, who could only last an hour in his first start. Tommy Leigh has been playing well, but he didn’t have the same intensity in closing down as Pattison did – few do.

If Tuesday was a game of two halves, this was a game of three thirds. City had dominated the middle portion of the game, but they tired. More subs came on, more cracks began to appear. The pressing intensity had been fantastic, but was impossible to keep up for 90 minutes and Peterborough got themselves a foothold.

With stoppage time approaching, Kelly was summoned to stiffen up the back line. This was now the game – hold what we have – and we nearly did. But Aden Baldwin let his man get past him, and Antoni Sarcevic didn’t get enough on his clearance, and Peterborough pounced to make it 1-1.

It felt like a defeat, even as we saw out the rest of stoppage time. But at the end, City’s exhausted team came over and received a standing ovation. They had left everything out on the pitch, and the fans knew it.

For so long we have had teams who cowered in front of our crowds. Opposition teams had a simple plan – frustrate them, watch the fans turn and watch the vicious cycle continue. We couldn’t trust the team, and they repeatedly showed why.

But this seems different. As chants rang out for seemingly every player (George Lapslie has a chant! So does Tyreik Wright!) we could see the trust between the fans and the squad. It’s a positive feedback loop – they give everything, and in return they get a raucous atmosphere that inspires them to greater heights and gives them energy reserves out of nowhere.

It’s this trust and this connection – cemented in the hedonistic joy of Sarcevic’s winner against Fleetwood and made so strong since that every new arrival becomes a part of it – that can take this side a long way. How far? Who knows. But it’s promising to be a great ride along the way.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2025/26, BCAFC, League Two, Peterborough United