Bradford City 2-0 Northampton Town

Saturday 1 May 2010
Coca-Cola League 2
Bradford City 2 (Evans 12, 81)
Northampton Town 0
Kick Off: 3.00pm
at the Coral Windows Stadium

Attendance: 12,403 (908 visitors)

A truly stunning Gareth Evans double ensured the Bantams signed off in front of their home fans for another season in style.

The Bantams striker grabbed his first of the afternoon within the first quarter of the match with a superb dipping volley from the edge of the area.

City's cause was helped further when the visitors were reduced to ten men as Cobblers defender Dean Beckwith tugged back Leon Osborne as the Bantams winger raced through on goal.

The visitors, who were desperate for points to help their Play-Off push, were a still presence in the match for long periods though despite their numerical disadvantage.

In something that is quickly becoming the norm under Peter Taylor's Bradford, the Bantams defended forcefully however and left McLaughlin with little to do when the match was still in the balance.

With time running out and the Cobblers committing more and more men further forward, Evans finished off the match by beating Jason Steele with a brilliant scissor kick from inside the area.

Northampton looked a spent force by that stage and Gavin Grant, Leon Osborne and Michael Flynn could have added to their misery with further City goals.

The day after committing his future to the club for a further season, Peter Taylor named the same starting eleven that had taken the field against Chesterfield seven days earlier.

There were changes to the Bantams bench, however, with Matt Glennon, Jonathan Bateson and Simon Ramsden all making returns from the sidelines.

Before kick off, everyone in the Coral Windows Stadium took a minute to pay their respects in silence to the 56 victims of the Valley Parade fire disaster.



When play got underway, proceedings took a while to come to the boil.

The match was sparked into life though in dramatic fashion as Evans powered City into the lead.

The Bantams striker controlled a long Jon McLaughlin punt down field on his chest, before crashing in a truly unstoppable volley on the turn from roughly 20 yards out.

The goal was a stunning piece of skill from a striker who will now be wishing the season was a month longer given his recent form.

Following Evans strike, chances began to flow more freely for both sides.

Osborne was inches away from connecting with Michael Flynn's teasing low cross, while Matthew Clarke had to be alert to prevent Billy McKay getting in behind the Bantams backline.

As the half progressed, Northampton started to see more and more of the ball as the visitors began to impose themselves.

Clarke's wayward backpass forced McLaughlin onto the backfoot as the shot stopper was forced to scramble the ball away from going for a corner.

The danger wasn't over though as McKay kept the Cobblers attack alive, but his eventual shot flashed just wide of McLaughlin's far post.

Just as the visitors were building up a head of stream, they were dealt a hammerblow.

Osborne pounced on a sloppy touch by Northampton's last man Dean Beckwith to knock the ball past the Cobblers defender and race away.

As Osborne strode past Beckwith, he briefly tugged back the Bantams winger to deny him a chance to run in unchallenged on Steele.

With the home crowd demanding Beckwith be given the ultimate punishment, they got their wish as the visiting defender was given his marching orders.

The blow of losing one of their centre halves didn't seem to initially effect the Cobblers much to their credit as they went agonisingly close to equalising on the stroke of half time.

McKay stuck in unmarked at the far post following a long throw from Andrew Holt, but could only send his close range diving header against the post.

The second period was barely ten minutes old when Taylor decided to hand Ramsden his first run out at Valley Parade since injuring his calf against Aldershot Town six weeks ago.

One of Ramsden's first task on the pitch could have easily been to join the celebrations of a Bantams second as Osborne went close twice in quick succession.

Osborne's first opportunity came when he turned away from Holt inside the penalty area, but was denied by a fine save from Steele with his legs.

Moments later and Osborne was in the action again as his curling effort from the edge of the area was arrowing into the top corner before Steele denied him again with a finger tip save.

Northampton still remained firmly in the contest at this stage, despite Osborne's openings. Holt's long throws in particular were causing the Bantams defence to stay fully focused.

With time running out and the Cobblers seeing their season slip away from them, boss Ian Sampson took his first and last throw of the dice with a triple substitution.

One of the players removed by Sampson was defender Peter Gilbert as he threw on three attackers. As the Cobblers went for broke, this allowed the Bantams to exploit the space left behind.

Grant had already tested Steele twice with fiercely struck shots before Evans showed everyone how it was done with another wonderful goal.

On the break, Grant slipped the ball into the path of Adam Bolder, who's far post cross was superbly met by Evans with a stunning scissor kick that sent the ball flying past Steele's helpless dive.

The goal effectively finished off Northampton as a force and the Bantams poured forward time after time as a result.

Grant could and maybe should have added a third goal to Bradford's total minutes later, but Steele did well to narrow the angle and deny the winger as he ran through on goal.

Osborne was the next to try his luck as he worked a neat opening with Bolder, but the angle was tight and Steele was there to keep him out again.

With the result now no longer in doubt, City still looked to pour on more misery for their beleaguered visitors.

Steele kept out Flynn after the Welsh midfielder's run into the box had been spotted by Evans, while Evans himself fired narrowly over deep into stoppage time.

In the end, Evans and the Bantams had to settle for his two stunning match winners to earn them the welcome three points and a perfect end to their home fixtures for another season.

That first goal was an absolute screamer