Bradford City 3-1 Cheltenham Town

by **BantamValley** Sun 17 Oct - 3:50:02

Saturday 16 October 2010
npower League 2
Bradford City 3 (Syers 32, Hendrie 75, Hanson 88)
Cheltenham Town 1 (Low 7)
Kick Off: 3.00pm
at the Coral Windows Stadium

Attendance: 10,537 (135 visitors)

FT: Bradford City 3 Cheltenham Town 1

90+3min: Pack drags and effort across McLaughlin's goal and wide of his far post.

90min: SUB - Hanson receives a standing ovation as he is taken off for Louis Moult.

89min: YELLOW CARD - Pack is booked for a late tackle on Hendrie.

88min: GOAL! Bradford City 3 Cheltenham Town 1 - City grab another! Hanson beats Brown with a superb left footed drive from just outside the area.

85min: Syers has Brown diving to his left as the midfielder connects with a volley on the edge of Cheltenham's area, but unfortunately for the Bantams, the effort goes wide.

82min: SUB - Doherty is taken off for the Bantams and replaced by Lee Bullock.

77min: City have the opportunity for a third shortly afterwards when Doherty's superb through ball plays Price in behind the Robins defence. As Brown comes from his goal, Price tries to dink the ball over the advancing keeper, but he is able to get a hand up to flick the effort away.

75min: GOAL! Bradford City 2 Cheltenham Town 1 - City finally take the lead of the match! Price heads O'Brien's centre across the six yard box and Hendrie is there to grab his first ever goal for City with an overhead kick from close range.

Taylor's side are trying to up the tempo again, but making chances in this second period is still proving difficult.

64min: Brian Smikle's angled drive is saved by McLaughlin.

City seem to have lost a bit of their zip in attack recently and Cheltenham are enjoying a bit more of ball now as a result.

59min: The second period is now quite close and evenly matched. The Bantams continue to show some promise going forward, but chances still remain limited at the start of this half.

58min: Osborne has the ball in the net, but play had been halted long before due to an offside flag.

55min: SUB - Cheltenham replace Theo Lewis with Shaun Jeffers.

54min: City have started the second period on the front foot, but there's been no clear chances created by either side so far.

46min: Price is involved almost straight away as he tumbles under Steve Elliott's challenge inside the area. The striker appears to go down rather easily though and no penalty is given.

46min: The Bantams restart the match.

SUB - Jason Price is on for his Bantams debut as he replaces Daley.

Both sides are back out onto the field.

HT: Bradford City 1 Cheltenham Town 1 - City leave the field for half time with their tails up after finishing the first period strongly. The Bantams have had the better of most of the first half and certainly deserve to at least be level after Low's opener for the Robins. Peter Taylor will hope City will be able to play the second period in the same vein and go for the win.

45min: City have just forced three corners in succession, but they were unable to make anything from them.

45min: SUB - Robins skipper Michael Pook is forced off with an injury and is replaced by Frankie Artus

City are really enjoying a purple patch at the moment and looking strong as half time approaches.

43min: Hanson is involved again when Daley's low cross skips through to him, but the striker seems to get his feet in a tangle and he can't get a clear shot on target.

40min: Brown's ball across the six yard box bounces past everyone until reaching a diving Hanson at the far post. The young striker flings himself at the ball, but his header is just wide of the target.

38min: City lose possession on the edge of their own area thanks to a sloppy pass from Hanson, but Doherty is on hand to make a brilliant recovery tackle to deny Goulding a shooting chance.

34min: Osborne tries to flick Hendrie's cross into the path of Hanson, but the ball races through for a goal kick. Perhaps Osborne could have headed for goal himself?

32min: GOAL! Bradford City 1 Cheltenham Town 1 - City's grab a deserved equaliser through Syers! O'Brien does superbly to rob Lowe of possession down by the corner flag before looking up and finding Syers, who heads in from close range.

28min: YELLOW CARD - Doherty is booked for a high tackle on Marlon Pack.

26min: Hendrie's curling low cross nearly finds the bottom corner of Brown's net or Hanson's flying boot at the far post, but it misses both to whistle just wide.

City remain the more attacking of the two sides, but they are struggling to create too many clear cut openings at the moment.

22min: Low's effort from distance is watched wide by McLaughlin.

20min: Hanson stretches to reach Brown's far post cross, but he is unable to get enough power on his header and Cheltenham's keeper Brown can pat the effort away.

19min: Daley's having another go soon after but he can only end a promising run with a shot well over the bar.

17min: Keith Lowe fires a 25 yard free kick only succeeds in flying into the Carlsberg Stand behind McLaughlin's goal.

10min: It's Daley's turn to have a go moments later, but his shot from just outside the area is deflected off target via Hanson's heel.

City have made most of the running in these opening exchanges and will feel disappointed to have conceded through Cheltenham's first real effort on target.

9min: From a promising breakaway, Osborne drags his shot across goal and out for a goal kick.

9min: O'Brien fires a 25 yard free kick narrowly over the bar. Brown seemed to have the effort covered anyway.

7min: GOAL - Bradford City 0 Cheltenham Town 1 - After making a bright start, City suffer the blow of conceding the opening goal. Josh Low slots past Jon McLaughlin at the near post to fire the Robins into the lead.

5min: Hanson tests Scott P Brown at his near post, but his rising shot from an angle is beaten away by the Cheltenham keeper.

4min: Syers steams into the penalty area unmarked to connect with Daley's hanging cross, but his volley flies narrowly over the bar.

1min: There's a brief break in play already as Jeff Goulding receives attention for a blow to his head. He is eventually able to continue though.

City seem to be lining up in a 4-4-2 formation with James Hanson and Omar Daley leading from the front. Leon Osborne and skipper Lee Hendrie will patrol the right and left wings respectively,while David Syers and Tom Doherty start in the centre of midfield.

Reece Brown, Steve Williams, Oliver Gill and Luke O'Brien make up the back four.

0min: Cheltenham will kick off the match....we're away and running!

The Bantams will attack the T.L Dallas Stand end in the this first period.

Both sides are now making their way out onto the playing surface here at the Coral Windows Stadium - we're almost ready for kick off!