ANOTHER STEP CLOSER FOR PARKY
PHIL Parkinson’s inspired second-half substitutes fired Bradford City past Scunthorpe United, helping the Bantams edge towards sealing a place in the League One play-offs.
Super sub Steven Davies was the star of the show, scoring the winner 22 minutes from time - much to Parkinson’s delight.
“We came up against a good side today,” admitted the Bradford boss.
“They are 13 games unbeaten and come here on the back of a 60 victory. We knew it would be tough, all games are tight and fortunately for us, we came out on top.”
In what was a physical opening 45 minutes, Scunthorpe created their best chance of the game ten minutes before the break.
An outstanding run from Hakeeb Adelakun saw him dance past two players, his initial effort was blocked before Paddy Madden’s follow-up shot was cleared off the line by Stephen Darby.
Afterwards, Graham Alexander, suffering his first defeat as boss of the Iron, tried to find positives from the game.
“That was an extremely fine margin. I think it was one long throw that separated the two teams and unfortunately it went to the opposition,” he said.
“There are a lot of tired bodies there, they have been put through the mill and worked extremely hard against a competitive and strong team.”
After a goalless but entertaining first half, the game looked like it was heading for a draw until Parkinson made a bold decision to remove both forwards with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Bradford had struggled to break down the visitor’s defence for over an hour and with 23 minutes remaining, the Bantams boss decided to remove the hard-working duo of Billy Clarke and James Proctor, in the hope of sparking a change in fortunes.
Within seconds the move paid off. A long high throw from James Meredith was aimed at James Hanson, forcing David Mirfin into a contested header.
It fell kindly to the alert Davies and the substitute applied an excellent low finish at the near post.
“It's terrific for us, when Billy and Proctor have run the opposition back four into the ground and you've got two fresh legs like those two to come in, it's a defender’s worst nightmare,” added Parkinson.
“Sometimes it's not just being fresh physically, it's mentally as well, being sharp upstairs. You could see with Steven the way he reacted, it was a terrific finish and I think he has five off the bench for us now - what a bonus that is for us.”
Bradford finish the day in fifth, with a five-point cushion over Barnsley - who have a game in hand - in seventh.
For Bradford, points on the board at this stage of the season could be crucial.
“You know when you come here, you know what the game is going to be about,” admitted Alexander.
“I thought we more than matched them on the physical side of it.”