Derby Day Disappointment – City suffer back to back defeats

Written by Lee Pasquariello

Today was a big day in Bradford City’s season. It was a chance to put things right, especially after last week’s narrow defeat, as well as being able to keep the pressure on second placed Lincoln, who won on Thursday night against Burton Albion. Instead, a 1-0 defeat happened, and the possibility of a potential new manager bounce I mentioned in this week’s blog unfortunately came true.

Coming into this match there was a bit of uncertainty for me once I saw the team sheet. Not having Antoni Sarcevic or Will Swan in the team left a bit of a question mark as to how City would set up. Sarcevic is crucial to this Bradford City team and is also one of our top scorers this season, so his absence in the match was massive. 

The bench for City also looked weak on first glance, and looking at comments online and comments from people in the pub I was watching the match in, they were also in agreement. We looked weak up front especially, with Calum Kavanagh the only recognized striker. However in terms of new signings it was interesting to see Newcastle United loanee Joe White making his full debut, after a short second half appearance last week against Cardiff.

First Half – On the back foot from the start

Huddersfield Town were making their first appearance under new manager Liam Manning, and they seemed to start quickly right from the first whistle. Town wasted no time as they looked to get the ball forward quickly at every opportunity, and they looked dangerous at times. 

This mostly came on the right-hand side through Bali Mumba, who signed for Huddersfield early this month from another League One team in Plymouth Argyle, and he genuinely looks like a player that could be extremely useful and a dangerous option for Manning’s team going forward.  

The intense nature of any West Yorkshire Derby soon took hold. There was a little bit of a coming together within the opening few minutes when Aden Baldwin gave Marcus McGuane a slight push towards the edge of the pitch, but McGuane retaliated by shoving Baldwin to the floor, resulting in a yellow card. While the push from Baldwin was not really needed as the ball was already going out of play, it is often commonly seen within matches as players try to make their mark within the match. 

The incident showed though that City were on the back foot, and were reacting to Town’s intensity rather than setting our own and grabbing a hold on the game. We were fortunate to stay level as in the 11^th minute, Town winger Lynden Gooch missed an open goal.  

In the 20^th minute, Town had the ball in the net through Bojan Radulovic, but he was ruled offside. I think we were fortunate to get away with it though because seeing it live on first glance, as well as seeing the highlights back, he doesn’t really look offside at all, and on another day a linesman might not have flagged it. 

You would think that having the goal disallowed and them missing an open goal it would wake some of the City players up and make them get a hold in the game, especially after Town’s pressure, but they just could not get going, and then in the 23^rd minute Town ended up scoring through ex- Ipswich winger Marcus Harness. 

It wasn’t the prettiest of goals, and questions can be asked of City’s defence. A throw in was taken quickly to Alfie May on the Huddersfield right, he crossed it and Radulovic was there to meet it with a header. Sam Walker in the City goal saved well from him, but in front of him was Harness who made no mistake. 

It was a quite avoidable goal, and you can ask questions of Baldwin and Power, as leaving a player like May so much space is very poor. Whether Power was wary of his disciplinary record (9 bookings) and scared of making a challenge I don’t know, but it was soft. It was definitely coming though, as like I said Town started really quickly.  

City struggled to create anything at all in the first half after this. The only time I remember us having a shot was right on half time through Joe White but it was absolutely nowhere near, which summed up our inability to create chances as we went in. We needed a massive change if we were to have a go at getting something out of this game

The second half – frustration, a sending off and good game management

Graham Alexander tried to force a reaction at half time with a triple substitution, bringing on Calum Kavanagh, and new signings Louie Sibley and Harrison Ashby. Despite this, we didn’t start the half too well. Town had a free header from a corner, which they should have really done better with. We were lucky to not be 2 or 3-0 down at this point. 

The dynamics shifted slightly when McGuane was sent off for a second yellow card for a poor tackle on Jenson Metcalfe in the 62^nd minute, which gave me and many other City fans hope that we could get something out of the game. 

The total opposite happened though because Town’s game management from this point onwards was excellent. Just like other times in the match, they stayed disciplined and were still winning most 50/50s, even with 10 men. 

Just like the first half, I thought Bali Mumba was the best player on the pitch. His pace caused the City players massive problems, but he was fortunate to only come away with a yellow card for an elbow on Harrison Ashby late on.  

City did look to go forward after the red card and managed to get a few shots away, and even managed to keep a large amount of possession compared to Town, but like last Saturday against the league leaders, there were not many clear-cut chances. Overall Town managed to see the game out with a well organised defensive display, meaning it was a very poor afternoon all round for City.

Final thoughts

Just like I warned in Tuesday’s piece, City were not facing a ‘broken team’ anymore, but instead a team that had a point to prove under a new manager. This unfortunately for City is exactly what happened, which makes the day even more frustrating.

Although there is an argument from some of the fanbase it was maybe time anyway, the decision to let Andy Cook leave on loan to League 2 Grimsby, before we considered bringing in another striker is quite confusing. Not only did he score on Tuesday in their friendly match, he also scored today within three minutes of coming on as a sub, in their 2-0 win over Cheltenham. This is even more annoying when we are struggling to convert chances in games like this week and last week.

What is concerning though is that City have lost 4 out of their last 7 games, and for the first time this season, City have suffered back to back defeats.  

The team must now get over this defeat quickly. They have 3 days at the time of writing this to prepare for their next match, which is another top of the table clash against Lincoln away. It’s a massive chance to keep the pressure on the top two, and one they must not lose, especially after the last few results. With a gap of currently seven points between City’s current position and 7^th place, they will want to keep progressing.