Bradford City 2-0 Peterborough United

Written by Lee Pasquariello

What a fantastic start to the season, and wow did it feel nice to be back at Valley Parade. 

If anyone was wondering if last season’s playoff final would leave some sort of hangover like we’ve seen in other seasons, Graham Alexander and his team have just given us the answer. A 2-0 win against Peterborough really is the perfect start, and it really gives you the impression that we mean business this season. 

From the first half the intensity I mentioned on Friday was there. We controlled the tempo, pressed high, and limited Peterborough to very few chances. 

I was impressed with new signing Jake Beesley yesterday as well. He battled hard against the Peterborough defence, offers us a lot of height in attack, so I think he’ll be a very useful option for us this season. 

The only unfortunate thing is that we didn’t go in at half time a couple of goals up. We hit the post twice, including a 25 yarder from new signing Callum Connolly, and there were other chances that went wide too. Usually, missing these chances would make us anxious, but as we’ve seen so many times under Alexander, we just kept pushing. 

The second half was a completely different story, and it started thanks to Macauley Gillesphey’s header from a Connolly corner (Connolly’s second assist in 2 games). Based on that service, we might finally be a threat from set pieces this season. Connolly had a very good performance overall, and he looks like a quality addition to the midfield. 

The biggest positive wasn’t only the goals, it was also how good we looked off the ball. When Peterborough had a brief spell and forced a few saves out of Jon McCracken, we didn’t panic. In past seasons, we might’ve crumbled or dropped deep, but yesterday and this side in general feels different. 

The second goal was absolutely quality and for me the build up was even better than the finish. Massive credit goes to Adam Phillips. His whipped cross managed to find Nick Powell who did exactly what you want him to do, but Phillips really created that goal out of nowhere. 

Starting the league season with a solid 2-0 win in front of 19k at Valley Parade is exactly how you want to start the season off. There’s a very long way to go, but there’s every reason to be optimistic about this season. Now we turn our attention to Thursday night’s game away at Sheffield Wednesday, where hopefully we can keep the momentum going.