The Curse is Broken: Bradford City finally sink Doncaster to end a difficult January

Written by Lee Pasquariello

The losing run is finally over. After a difficult month with four defeats and only one win, City managed to secure the win over last season’s League Two champions Doncaster Rovers. The win serves as a massive turnaround after a difficult period of the season. It wasn’t a classic by any means, but a 1-0 City win was definitely needed.

In an attempt to stop the amount of goals conceded, Graham Alexander brought Matt Pennington back into the defence with Joe Wright being named on the bench. All eyes were on Kayden Jackson though, who signed yesterday on a 2 and a half year deal from Derby, to see if he could give us that much needed edge.

We actually started pretty well, and in the 11th minute Jackson appeared to mark his debut with a goal, firing into the bottom corner from close range. Although the linesman and the referee seemed to award the goal, it was somehow overturned by fourth official Paul Marsden, after protests mainly led by Doncaster manager Grant McCann.

Even though it was the correct decision because it hit his arm, you have to wonder how the 4th official had actually seen it from the dugout when there were so many players in the way? There were also many of murmurings around Valley Parade as well as online after the game that the 4th official was shown a replay of the goal from a screen on the Doncaster bench, so it will be interesting to see if anything develops about this.

Despite the frustration and controversy of the disallowed goal, City looked really solid defensively. With the City goal completely open after a rare Doncaster chance, Matt Pennington threw himself into an unbelievable goal line block. It was truly brilliant defending as he stopped a certain goal, and it was exactly the sort of defending that’s been missing this month.  

On the hour mark, Jackson’s debut came to an end as he was replaced by fellow debutant Paul Mullin, who signed on loan yesterday from Championship side Wrexham. Jackson looked really sharp and had lots of pace, but it appeared he was tired and possibly suffering from cramp which is understandable given that he hasn’t played much this season.

Mullin didn’t take long for his presence to be felt. He was constantly in the faces of Doncaster’s defenders and pressing them as we tried to find the opener. He looks like a player who isn’t afraid to get stuck in as well, as eventually he was shown a yellow card. After two more fouls after this though I was concerned the ref might show him another, however he chose not to.

Once he came on, it felt like a goal was definitely coming as we were pushing up the pitch a lot more. We came really close when we hit the crossbar and the post within the same move. Max Power saw a powerful strike come off the crossbar, before Bobby Pointon hit the post with the rebound.

Doncaster didn’t really offer much in response, and in the 81st minute the winner came. Josh Neufville had an outstanding run on the right hand side, before crossing to Tyreik Wright, who like Mullin came on as a sub, to volley it first time into the top corner.

It was a great moment for him, and I feel he deserves that goal. I really think he puts in a lot of effort when he plays, but has been unfortunate for a long time because he hasn’t really found an opening. Hopefully this goal will be a massive, much needed confidence boost for him.

Opinions and final thoughts

Overall, City fully deserved to win this afternoon. I feel we were the better team throughout the game, and whilst it wasn’t a classic, and definitely not pretty, a win is a win. This result was needed for City today, especially after three defeats on the bounce, and the players showed the fight and effort to get it over the line.

However the officiating should be much better, at all levels of football in the country. The way the disallowed goal was handled was extremely poor, even if it was correct. The fact that the fourth official influenced the game based on a replay on a screen on the opposite bench, combined with their protests, is not a good look.

Despite the poor refereeing, there can be some positives to take into February. For example, Pennington’s return was massive and the new signings, particularly Mullin, have brought some much needed aggression and finally Tyreik Wright fully deserved his moment today.

Overall, our winless run in the league, and against Doncaster is officially over. Hopefully now we can start looking up again trying to keep the pressure on the other playoff sides.