A hard one to take as Bradford City draw against Barnsley

Written by Lee Pasquariello

Well that one really is tough to take. 

It’s a typical type of result for those of us who follow Bradford City. It’s the hope that builds over a match, only for us to be dismantled with pretty much the last kick of the game. A win today at Barnsley would have given us a massive opportunity to all but secure the playoffs, but instead the opposite happened, we threw away the win in the last minute, and at this moment in time I am well and truly gutted. 

The frustration for me is much more because on paper we pretty much had the game handed to us. When Barnsley had winger Vimal Yoganathan sent off very early into the game we really had the belief that this would be a good day for us, and that we would continue our away winning record after winning at Wycombe almost 2 weeks ago. 

We had over 80 minutes to play against 10 men. It was a great setup for us, to prove we truly deserve to be up there this season. 

Instead. City didn’t really do anything at all, and for most of it looked like a side that didn’t know how to use the extra man or the space available. We created nothing of note in the first half, and neither side looked like they got going. Early in the second half though, Eoghan O’Connell headed Barnsley in front, his first goal in three years by the way, and it began to feel like it was the same old story.

To be fair to City, we did find a way back through Nick Powell. He’s been missing half the season through injury, but I feel he’s looked quite good since he’s been back in the team, and he looks like he’s a player that really knows what he’s doing. It was a good finish from him, and in the last couple of games this season he could really do a job for us, if he’s able to stay fit.

After this went in it really felt like we could go on and win. When the own goal came with only a few minutes left I thought we’d done it. That we’d more or less confirmed the playoffs. That we’d finally get a winning run going away from home. 

Then came the added time. 7 minutes adding on, and it’s the same story as the Reading game. The game management at the end was terrible. Instead of trying to get a third goal and properly finish it off against ten men, we sat back and defended.

 I personally despise this type of football late on in matches, as it does nothing but invite pressure, and in a game of this importance this late on in the season, we really couldn’t afford to give away anything silly. 

Instead that is exactly what happened. To let substitute Leo Farrell tap in on the 96th minute is an absolute joke. Even at the time of writing this I’m still sickened by it, as they should’ve been out of sight long before. 

I’ve tried to stay positive this season. Yes it has been a success. Yes it is much better than anyone, included myself, ever expected, but to struggle to create against ten men for the majority of this game, and then throwing away the game in the last minute this late in the season is extremely disappointing. At this stage of the season as well, if we want to finish in the playoffs then it’s two points dropped. Playoff and promotion teams shouldn’t let teams nick a result like that with three games to go. 

It feels like the last few weeks of last season, we are still inconsistent, and we are staggering towards the finish line rather than secure it with no problems. 

Even though at this moment in time I’m pissed off and deflated about this afternoon, there is some good news. A couple of results have gone our way as Stockport and Stevenage both drew. It means that we still have a good chance, however it doesn’t really ease my concern. 

I cannot stress this enough, Tuesday night’s match against Plymouth is a must win. The gap has reduced to six points. We are currently on 72 and they are on 66, and if we don’t win it then the pressure will really be on us to actually secure the spot. 

I just hope we manage to win, and to secure the playoffs with a few games to spare for once. But as we all know, Bradford City never do things the easy way.