By Jason McKeown

Was this the night Bradford City’s automatic promotion hopes ended? They were utterly run ragged, beaten up, and humiliated by a second-place Lincoln City side now perched nine points above the Bantams. It’s true City have a game in hand on the Imps, but results elsewhere mean they’ve dropped another league place.

It’s now five defeats in the last eight. Their season is suddenly in a nosedive, and this latest setback was damning evidence of just how far behind others they actually are.

It was so, so poor. Alarmingly awful. The Bantams spent the night enacting the infamous Mick McCarthy meme. “It can’t go on like this, can it?” we pondered after Saturday’s Huddersfield Town horror show. “It can!” They somehow plummeted to even greater depths here than what they produced in Kirklees. A new worst performance of the season.

It took them 56 minutes just to register a shot – and that would be their only one of the entire night. On Saturday the Bantams had recorded their lowest-ever xG (0.16) since records began in 2019. Here, they broke that record again – with 0.03. Lincoln dominated from start to finish, ripping through their opponents at will. Confidence oozed through the red-and-white shirts, as they masterfully demolished their guests. And it begged the question – was this really a battle between 2nd and 4th? It didn’t even look like a contest.

Worry is the word. City’s lofty league placing always looked like an over-performance. Well beyond our wildest expectations. But the longer it’s gone on, the more credible it seemed. Even if it couldn’t last, they’d set their standards high enough that you’d expect them to at least keep making a really good go of it.

But this is not a reversion to the mean – it’s a collapse. Back-to-back shambolic displays, almost completely unrecognisable to everything we’ve seen up until now. And it leaves us supporters with justifiable questions – starting with: what the hell is going on?

There was just nothing to console about this latest failure. The team was shuffled, with five changes, but the familiar recent problems were on show. I’m so bored of writing this next sentence game after game, but here we are again. [Insert name of opponent] played an extra player in the centre of the park to out-number City’s midfield two. Copy and paste. Bullet point one from the manual of how to stop Bradford City, passed on from opposition manager to opposition manager.

Maybe we should, I don’t know, try doing something to counter it?

It would also be nice if City could stop starting games so badly. In three of the last four, they’d fallen behind inside the opening 25 minutes, and gone onto lose. A good start was desired. Fair to say we didn’t get one. Instead, they conceded the quickest goal of their season. Some going.  

Infuriatingly, it came from a set piece. Lincoln are set-piece specialists. They’re not subtle about it – their fans even sound an air siren every time they haul a delivery into the box. You would imagine part of Graham Alexander’s team talk would include the instruction not to give away cheap free kicks. But a once again out-of-sorts Curtis Tilt tried to get to the ball ahead of Freddie Draper and only succeeded in booting the striker in the face. The resultant free kick was swung over by Reeco Hackett, no one tracked Draper’s run, and he powerfully headed past Sam Walker.

And already you feared the worst. Prior to this evening, Lincoln had scored the first goal in 18 of their 27 league matches. They had not lost any of them – winning 14 and drawing 4. You have to go back to Rotherham away, at the start of October, for the last time City claimed even a point after falling behind.

They weren’t about to change that here. Lincoln’s chests puffed out further after scoring. They ran riot. Rob Street found space, but his shot was partially blocked and bounced into Walker’s hands. Tilt almost scored an own goal after misjudging a cross. Moments later, Street found space and curled an effort just wide, after Jack Moylan nutmegged Tilt and broke clear. Street had another chance when he rose above Ibou Touray at the back post to meet Adam Reach’s cross, but his header went wide. Hackett shot from distance to force a good save from Walker, after a poor clearance from Ciaran Kelly.

It was one-way stuff, with nothing up front for City. A forward line of Tyreik Wright (one goal this season), Stephen Humphrys (six), and Tommy Leigh (one) did not exactly scream prolific. Frustrated fans began chanting Andy Cook’s name – and seconds later, Lincoln made it 2-0. The Imps broke forward after winning the ball deep. It was worked to Hackett, who saw his shot blocked. The ball looped into the air, and Street flicked it cleverly to Moylan. From the edge of the box, the attacking midfielder produced a lovely, arrowed finish.

And really, Lincoln should have scored more in that half. The opening 45 minutes saw them produced 12 attempts on goal. They looked like scoring every time they came forward, with City’s defence completely bullied by Street and Draper. A late Harrison Ashby clearance to deny a third felt crucial in at least making sure the game wasn’t completely beyond the Bantams at the break, but it was hardly much comfort.

The interval saw the anonymous Wright replaced by Calum Kavanagh. A switch to a 3-1-4-2, with Power playing behind Tommy Leigh and Jenson Metcalfe, and Kavanagh partnering Humphrys. It did lead to…an actual shot! Humphrys found room and hit a rasping low effort from an angle that George Wickens blocked. The faintest of glimmers, supplemented by City slowing the Lincoln surge for a short time. How low the bar has quickly fallen.

Lincoln soon regained momentum and came close through Moylan and Reach. They know how to manage games and kept their opponents at arm’s length. With 21 minutes to go, Ashby, Matty Pennington, and Leigh were taken off. This was only Leigh’s second league start since the start of October and he offered little to suggest that Alexander had been wrong to overlook him. Josh Neufville, Aden Baldwin and Joe White came on – game-changing substitutions they weren’t.

Unlike at the other end. Ben House was introduced in the 77th minute, and nine minutes later, he headed home Tom Hamer’s cross to make it 3-0 and seal a fine night for the hosts. By that stage, a large chunk of City’s away following had already headed home. It had been a rough night. “Can we play you every week?” was the gleeful chant of a brilliantly vocal home crowd. Their team kept going to the end and could have seriously embarrassed City by scoring four or five. The shot count ended 19-1. Crikey.

So where do City go from here? Another win for sixth-placed Huddersfield puts them just one point behind the Bantams. And though the fact it was Luton the Terriers beat was some sort of boost, wins for Stevenage and Wycombe mean the cushion inside the play offs has been shaved to four points. Only a couple of weeks ago, the gap was nine.

For a time, it seemed City had a great chance of the top two and a play off position would be their comfortable fall-back. Now, the leading pack have raced off into the distance, and they’re looking nervously over their shoulders.

It must be said – this is all, still, a great position to be in. One we would have bitten hands off to have, before a ball was kicked at the start of the season. We should not forget City are newly promoted to this level, competing with clubs that have considerably bigger resources. They’ve done really well to be in a position for us to feel this disappointed.

But it’s hard to escape the conclusion that a truly impressive first half to the season has been followed by a truly disappointing January. Not just in terms of form (four defeats from five), but in how the transfer window has so far failed to match expectations. Even if the window closes with notable new arrivals, the way the squad has been transitioned has caused some bumps. They may be short-term, but the damage might already be done. Promotion battles are about fine margins – and the lack of points over recent weeks could be decisive in May.

Letting Andy Cook, Alex Pattison, Brad Halliday, Lewis Richards, Tom McIntyre, and Neill Byrne leave were all logical decisions for a club with top-two ambitions. To keep competing at the top, and make the step into the Championship, better quality was needed – and tough decisions had to be made.

But so far, there is little evidence the squad has been upgraded. There is real concern it is weaker rather than stronger. Losing big-character players loved by fans – without replacing them quickly, or replacing them with inferior loan players – has contributed to City falling into this hole. Cook, Pattison and Halliday aren’t the future, but the last few games suggest they may still have been the present, if only for a couple of extra weeks.

Ethan Wheatley is expected to finally join before the weekend, but like White, Ashby and Louis Sibley he has limited experience and a lot is riding on all of them providing the answers when they understandably need time to find their feet. This is arguably City’s best chance of returning to the Championship in 20 years – and so far, the window actions do not scream ambition or bravery to seize that opportunity.

History might not judge this moment kindly.

So far, no dial-changing arrivals. And this is coupled with too many players falling out of form. Humphrys has gone six games without a goal. Bobby Pointon hasn’t got going again after injury issues. Josh Neufville, Joe Wright, Max Power, Tyreik Wright, and now Curtis Tilt are enduring alarming dips in form. There is no goal threat, the midfield is swarmed every game, and the defence is no longer looking strong.

The improving – and perennial Bradford City bogey side – Doncaster Rovers are next at Valley Parade, before another run of tricky fixtures. City must stop the rot quickly, because they’re suddenly eating up their goodwill at an alarming rate.

Categories: Match Reviews

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