Written by Jason McKeown (images by John Dewhirst)

Winning – when you’ve not won a league game in two months – should really be all that matters. And the headline here is that Bradford City have earned their first League One victory in seven. They’ve built on the resurgence of positive vibes from the trip to Bolton by carving out the tangible substance of three points.

Joe Wright scored – a nice goal it was too. A clean sheet was achieved. And when you pour over the League One table this weekend, it continues to make for compelling viewing.

So all’s well that ends well. Except, when you dig below the surface and assess the performance, all isn’t completely well, actually. After a month where doubts have crept in about City’s staying power, it turns out that winning is only part of the antidote. Because this was a display that emphasised the confidence and verve still isn’t at the levels of their carefree start to the season, and that opposition intellect over how to curb City’s 3-4-3 approach is spreading.

It’s hard to make a convincing case that the Bantams deserved this win. Exeter City produced a performance that belied their lowly league position of 20th. The 19 shots the visitors mustered was the joint-highest City have faced in the league all season.

Exeter had a goal disallowed for offside mid-way through the second half that replays suggest the officials may have judged wrongly. Sam Walker made a string of superb saves and rightly took the sponsor’s player of the match award. He was outstanding.

Led by the dangerous frontman of Jayden Wareham, and with the tricky Jack Aitchison and Akeel Higgins just behind, Exeter came with an ambition to win that was only undermined by wayward finishing and terrific home defending. They’ll spend the long, long journey back to Devon pondering how they didn’t earn at least a draw – but be heartened by the amount of anxiety they heaped upon their opponents. If Exeter can play like that every week, they won’t be troubling the relegation places that they’re tiptoeing precariously above.

And if we are to praise Exeter’s vigour – that means we must doubly praise Bradford City too. This became a major test of character, and they passed it. In unrelenting rain, plummeting temperatures and slithering darkness, City displayed courage and determination to get over the line. Certainly not pretty. Certainly hard-fought. But they showed resilience and strength to keep Exeter at bay. They did well to defeat opposition who played well.

It was definitely hard work. Exeter showed attacking intent right from kick off, but City initially gave as good as they got. Starting with the XI that played the majority of the second half at Bolton, the Bantams soon found some rhythm – and they were rewarded with a goal 20 minutes in. A corner wasn’t fully cleared and City’s pressing kept an attack alive, earning them a free kick. Tyreik Wright took it quickly and played the ball to Antoni Sarcevic, who directed it to Max Power. The City skipper sent over a cross to the unmarked Joe Wright that he flicked home. 1-0, and at that stage just about merited.

But maybe going ahead so early on invited a scarcity mindset of fearing too much what they might lose. City struggled for the rest of the half for sure, as Exeter dominated possession. Grecian wing backs Jack McMillan and Ilmari Niskanen got up and down fruitfully, pushing back their counterparts Josh Neufville and Tyreik Wright.

In what is becoming a wearisome trend for City, the opposition deployed an extra man in midfield – with Gary Caldwell’s 3-4-2-1 set up meaning that Power and Alex Pattison were outnumbered because of how Aitchison and Higgins dropped deep. The Bantams couldn’t execute the solution successfully used at Bolton – asking Neufville and Tyreik Wright to tuck in out of possession – because of Exeter’s rampaging wing backs. Large gaps emerged, hindering the Bantams’ ability to press.

And so, they spent much of the remainder of the first half hanging on. The front three of Sarcevic, Bobby Pointon, and Stephen Humphrys struggled to get on the ball. There must also be long-term doubts about whether Power and Pattison are complementing each other as a middle two, or whether each player’s desire to push forwards means they can’t play together.

Thank goodness for City’s defence though. Joe Wright scored at one end and made several crucial last-ditch blocks at the other – he truly is back on form after an Autumnal dip. Aden Baldwin’s return to fitness is huge for City’s ball distribution, and he played really well.

Ibou Touray was not quite at his usual high standards – just after half time he uncharacteristically played a weak backpass that Wareham latched onto and should really have scored from. But Touray’s unwavering commitment personifies this team and certainly this City performance. He stuck at the job. And that’s all you can ask.

By the time that dodgy backpass moment happened, Graham Alexander had tweaked the team – with some success. Half time saw the arrival of Will Swan for Pattison, and a switch to 3-5-2 that made City more effective.

The third quartile spell of the game – minute 46 to 67 – was by some distance City’s best, as they carved out several good chances. The bulk of them fell to Humphrys, who was guilty of missing passable opportunities. The City striker merited his start but once again flattered to deceive. So many wrong choices. It is tear-your-hair-out-maddening at times.

Nevertheless, the period of Humphrys and Swan leading the line – with Pointon and Sarcevic dropping back to midfield but encouraged to press – offered a lot of encouragement. It also helped the City wing backs win their individual battles and emerge as key attacking threats. Tyreik Wright had a tentative first half but returned to his Bolton levels after the break. It became Neufville’s best game in weeks.

The City ascendency didn’t last, however. And here we must talk about something that none of us really want to. Because midway through the second half Andy Cook came on for Humphrys, and City’s press…well, it stopped working again. Look, we all absolutely love Andy. Everyone wants him to reclaim his position as the King of Valley Parade. But it’s hard to avoid the worry that City’s high press approach just doesn’t suit the City legend. It’s not Cook’s fault, but his introduction to the pitch coincided with Exeter regaining control.

And it really was control. In the third quartile of the game (3-5-2 with Swan/Humphrys up front), City had six shots on goal to Exeter’s one, and 42% possession. In the fourth quartile (after Cook’s introduction), the shot count was one 9-1 in Exeter’s favour, as City’s possession dropped to 34%.

Again, we must stress – not Cook’s fault. And the final stages of any close game will typically see the team who is losing have more of the ball and harvest more shots on goal. But in that third quartile, we were treated to compelling evidence of how effective City can be when they’re front-fronted and high pressing. In the fourth quartile of the game, they couldn’t be either.

It led to a nervy ending that saw Alexander make moves to block Exeter from breaking through. Tom McIntyre came on and played in midfield. Neil Byrne replaced the tiring Baldwin. And then right at the end the sub was subbed, with Swan taken off for Jenson Metcalfe. There were some deeply uncomfortable moments for City that lingered on right to the final whistle. But though they faced sizeable pressure, the home side ultimately did not crack and saw it out.

This is not the sort of performance that gets you back-to-back promotions – something the Kop defiantly talked-up the prospect of, as it serenaded the team through the closing stages. But it is definitely the sort of game where, if you don’t earn victory, you’re not going to be in that conversation come Springtime.

So we headed home to warm chilly hands, safe in the contentment that the winless run is over. And that this is a game we’ll remember longer for the fact City won it, than we will that they were less-than-convincing in achieving it. It won’t make the season’s highlights reel, but it could be an important foundation in whatever City achieve.

There’s no such thing as a must-win game when you’re a newly promoted club that’s wildly overachieving expectations. But after a time when spirits have slightly sagged and even Alexander has publicly struggle to make sense of his emotions, City have got back to winning ways at the right moment.

And that really is all that should matter.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2025/26, BCAFC, Exeter City, League One