Resilience at Valley Parade as 10 man Bradford City beat Leyton Orient

Written by Lee Pasquariello

After the sheer disappointment of last weekend’s last minute loss away at Reading, we desperately needed to bounce back yesterday with a win, and that is exactly what we did. There is something really special with how this team finds ways to win at home, especially in difficult circumstances like yesterday’s second half. 

Antoni Sarcevic proved exactly why he is my number one choice for player of the season. He fully deserved his two goals yesterday, showing the composure that we really needed.

It wasn’t all perfect though, as we made it hard for ourselves at times. The defending for Orient’s soft goal was shambolic to be honest. Some players were sliding into tackles and some were standing still. Sam Walker could have done better with it as well, as the shot was straight at him. 

The second goal in particular for City was a moment of absolute quality, a truly brilliant assist from Stephen Humphrys, ensuring we took all three points despite a setback such as a red card. 

I think Ethan Wheatley who was playing in the City attack yesterday looks generally okay whenever he plays but he still doesn’t look confident when it comes to finishing. He had a couple of chances in the second half that he probably should have done better with. I think it’s worth Graham Alexander sticking with him though, or maybe consider playing him on the wing, as his pace could be quite useful. 

As well as this, the officiating yesterday from Ollie Yates was atrocious. Aden Baldwin’s red card in the 75th minute looked like a 50/50 at best, but it summed up one of the worst refereeing performances I’ve ever seen in my nearly 16 seasons of watching Bradford City. 

What makes it even worse is that Orient should have been down to 10 men themselves in the first half with a foul from Josh Koroma who was on a yellow, but the referee bottled it!

The standard of refereeing at all levels in this country is getting worse and worse by the week. However the red card really fired up the Valley Parade crowd, and the Orient players really struggled with it. To his credit, Orient manager Richie Wellens actually picked up on it in his post match interview, so it would suggest it did have an impact.

To keep going forward after being reduced to ten men, and the referee and linesmen giving Orient every single decision that came their way, is what earned us this win. 

Yesterday’s result was huge for City, as it allows us to keep the momentum going in the playoff places, and it is a massive result to take into the next game. 

City have two away games upcoming in the next week, against Port Vale and Wigan. I just hope yesterday’s result can be the start of a winning run as it will be key at this stage of the season.