The day at the University of Bradford Stadium was all about control.
Even while leading games, Bradford City hasn’t consistently seemed to have everything under control this year.
The Bantams rarely put a team to the test, but their 4-1 victory over Newport County last week was one of those rare occasions.
Normal service resumed after Walsall landed in West Yorkshire.
Andy Cook gave Bradford the lead, but they were never able to really grab the game from their opponents.
When two corners were swung in and led to Walsall’s second and third goals of the game, they undoubtedly lacked control in their own box.
After Liam Gordon had equalised the score by cutting in from the left, finding lots of space, and curling into the bottom corner, the goals came from set pieces.
Aramide Oteh and Freddie Draper responded to Walsall’s corners to seal a 3-1 victory for the Saddlers.
Mark Hughes, the manager of the Bantams, is under increasing pressure because his team has only won three of their first ten league games.
He was irritated at his team’s defence, and the home crowd inside the stadium felt the same way.
“I thought we started really brightly, I thought we were good value for our lead, even if it was a little bit fortunate,” Hughes said after the game. We didn’t hold the lead for long enough, and the set-play’s organisation wasn’t nearly perfect.
“In terms of positioning, we were slightly off. As a result, they were able to cross our goal line, and despite the fact that they hadn’t really created much and we had been the better team, we were down 2-1 at the break.
From that point on, you have to take action. From their perspective, it’s ideal because they can get everyone behind the ball and then play on the break, which they did on a few times.
“They managed to get a corner, and once again we failed to perform well during a set-play.
“It will damage you if you give up from set plays. After then, the team was behind two goals in terms of the
At the final siren, boos were heard, not for the first time this year.
The fact that the crowd had been left relatively thin by a mass departure was the only thing that made the angry greeting less severe.
Anyone within the stadium could feel the atmosphere of unhappiness.
“We have to accept that there are always boos when we lose,” remarked Hughes. Today, it was warranted because the second half fell short of our expectations. We gave up some terrible goals.
The failure of Bradford to dismantle Walsall in the second half was almost as concerning as their defensive flaws.
As the Saddlers sat deep and irritated the feeble Bantams, the heroic comeback that the supporters were hoping for never materialised.
Bradford are still in the running for promotion, but in order to manage their season, they must start controlling games.
Bradford City: Lewis, Halliday, Platt, Stubbs, Ridehalgh; Oduor, Gilliead, McDonald, Tulloch (Smith, 73); Walker, Cook (Pattison, 53); and (Oyegoke, 53).
Wilson, Smallwood, Kelly, Doyle, and Kelly were inactive subs.
Walsall: Tierney (Knowles 81), Draper (Matt 75); McEntee, Oteh, Stirk, Hutchinson, Riley; Evans, Williams, Daniels, and Gordon.
Leave a Reply