Npower League Two
Bradford C (5) 5 Wells 3, Haynes-Brown og 13, Davies 31, McArdle 37, Hanson
45.
Wimbledon (1) 1 Harris 35.
Att: 9,436
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Signings, Loans and Injuries
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Match Media & Stats
BRADFORD C: 12. Matt Duke, 23. Rory McArdle, 5. Andrew Davies, 6. Luke
Oliver, 3. James Meredith, 20. Zavon Hines 74', 18. Gary Jones, 24. Nathan
Doyle 74', 7. Kyel Reid, 21. Nahki Wells 79', 9. James Hanson.
SUBS: 1. Jon McLaughlin, 2. Stephen Darby, 10. Ross Hannah, 11. Garry
Thompson 74', 14. Will Atkinson 74', 16. Carl McHugh, 17. Alan Connell 79'.
WIMBLEDON: 1. Seb Brown, 15. Jim Fenlon 74', 5. Pim Balkestein, 6. Mat
Mitchel-King, 22. Curtis Haynes-Brown 68', 7. Stacy Long, 4. Louis Harris,
8. Sammy Moore, 9. Byron Harrison, 10. Jack Midson, 12. Christian Jolley
87'.
SUBS: 33. Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz, 3. Warren Cummings 68', 16. Angus MacDonald
74', 18. Brendan Kiernan, 20. Frankie Merrifield 87', 21. Charlie Strutton,
26. Daniel Sweeney.
Stats: Bradford - Wimbledon
Possession: 59 - 41%
Shots on target: 10 - 2
Shots off target: 5 - 4
Fouls: 5 - 6
Corners: 7 - 4
Ref: Pat Miller (Bedfordshire)
Yellow cards:
Bradford C: None
Wimbledon: Fenlon (30 min.)
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Saturday evening match report
By Simon Parker (T&A)
City crushed Wimbledon with a five-goal blast before half-time to send the
Coral Windows Stadium delirious this afternoon.
Phil Parkinson's men made it back-to-back home wins but this was a stroll
compared with the hard-fought midweek victory over Fleetwood.
Wimbledon, still reeling from conceding six at Burton on Tuesday, were blown
away inside 45 minutes.
Goal-crazy City went in at half-time 5-1 up - the first time that has
happened since thrashing Oldham by the same score in 1987.
The Bantams got off to the perfect start with a goal inside three minutes.
Wimbledon failed to deal with Matt Duke's long clearance and Nahki Wells
nipped in ahead of keeper Seb Brown to score from a difficult angle.
It got even better for the home side in the 12th minute as Wimbledon's
defensive woes continued. James Meredith overlapped down the left and
whipped in a dangerous cross which was turned into his own net by left back
Curtis Haynes-Brown - a disastrous way to start his debut on loan from
Yeovil.
City were well on top and made it 3-0 after a howler from Brown, allowing an
Andrew Davies free-kick to slip through from 45 yards out.
The crazy half continued with Wimbledon scoring from their first effort on
target, Byron Harrison heading home a free-kick.
But City went straight up the other end to make it 4-1 after 37 minutes as
Rory McArdle touched home from James Hanson 's knockdown. And Hanson joined
the party a minute before the break with a looping header to convert Wells'
cross and complete an incredible first half.
Brown was having a nightmare but he did manage to deny Zavon Hines from a
sixth goal on the hour after a lovely pass from Kyel Reid.
The game was stopped for seven minutes after Haines-Brown was injured in a
challenge with Hines. The Wimbledon defender was eventually stretchered off
to generous applause from the crowd.
The second half was inevitably a case of after the Lord Mayor's show. There
could have been more - and Hines should have scored after a late blunder
from sub Angus MacDonald - but nobody could grumble after such a comfortable
and convincing win.
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Monday morning match report
Give me five! You've got to hand it to bang-on Bantams
8:20am Monday 27th August 2012
By Simon Parker
Bradford City 5 AFC Wimbledon 1
Love it or otherwise, maybe the new club anthem is the lucky charm.
Or it could be the holidaying no-shows that David Baldwin was jokingly threatening to bar for the rest of the season.
The pre-match downpour that has greeted both home games might even become a superstitious ritual.
But something has happened at the Coral Windows Stadium. Two games, two wins – one over a promotion favourite, the other by as emphatic a margin as most can remember in recent times.
And all the time the belief in Phil Parkinson and the squad he has rebuilt over the past three months is growing.
Tough tests lie ahead and lots of them; none more so than next weekend's first jaunt to Rotherham's new home.
If they can return from the New York stadium with some reward then even the most hard-bitten cynic will admit it's been a very satisfying start.
City are unlikely to encounter more generous opponents than Wimbledon, whose first-half no-show looked a case for trading standards.
For the second game running, they conceded a cricket score. In Wimbledon's case, maybe that should be tennis.
There were more faults in their play than the weakest service game at SW19. For 45 minutes it looked like City would outdo the six that Burton had fired past them four days earlier.
Seb Brown was bad enough in the Wimbledon goal but he got no help whatsoever from his two centre halves.
Their gameplan sounded simple. Mark "that big lump", as boss Terry Brown described James Hanson .
In the first half they might as well have been on a different pitch as Hanson won every single challenge in the air.
He did miss one header right at the start but then so did his hapless markers, allowing Matt Duke's long punt to bounce unattended towards the Wimbledon box.
Nahki Wells sniffed out the opportunity, toed it round the keeper before slotting home from an acute angle. The game was not even three minutes old – and already its competitiveness was looking questionable.
Wimbledon were having horrific flashbacks of their midweek nightmare at Burton.
The second blow in the 12th minute was self-inflicted. James Meredith made the first of several overlapping runs and drilled in a low cross which Curtis Haynes-Brown diverted into his own net.
The left back's debut on loan from Yeovil was to get even worse in the second half when he was knocked unconscious in a clash with Zavon Hines.
The game was halted for seven minutes before Haynes-Brown was stretchered off with a neck injury. He was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary , where he was kept in overnight suffering from concussion.
City tightened their grip on the game as keeper Brown lost his, making a total dog's dinner of an Andrew Davies free-kick from just over the halfway line.
While claiming the goal, Davies did admit that the plan was to drop the ball on the six-yard box and leave the keeper fretting between whether to come for it or stick on his line.
Brown decided to try and claim but misjudged the flight and got no more than a couple of fingertips on the ball as it sailed all the way through to the net.
City could do no wrong at that stage but Wimbledon briefly crashed the carnival when Byron Harrison converted a free header.
He hardly rushed into the goal to pick up the ball, though. Having seen the circus-style defending at the other end there was obviously little faith in keeping City's tally to three.
Harrison was not wrong as within two minutes the Bantams had struck again. Hanson, inevitably, jumped unhindered to meet Gary Jones' corner and Rory McArdle was at the near post to sweep in.
Four goals, four different scorers and surprisingly Hanson wasn't one of them. That wasn't going to last and the striker claimed his third of the season with a well-placed header a minute before the break.
Brown spent half-time melting the paintwork in the away dressing room while giddy home fans attempted to recall when City had last got five in the first half.
The answer was way back in January 1987 against Oldham in an icy FA Cup replay. Two of that City team, wingers Ian Ormondroyd and John Hendrie, were in the press box on radio duty and clearly enjoying watching modern-day flankers Kyel Reid and Hines run Wimbledon ragged.
The Wombles did tighten up after the break but the damage had already been done.
City might have declared on their half-time tally but there were still opportunities for more, with Reid and Hines the main guilty parties.
Reid cut inside and fired wastefully wide when Wells was waiting for a tap-in and Hines lost out to Brown's one decent save when he raced clear from a blunder by sub Angus MacDonald.
But it would be churlish to pick holes on an afternoon when so much went right. Yes, Wimbledon were woeful but City's passing and all-round positivity deserved the accolades.
They were as good as the visitors were awful.
Parkinson highlighted another relentless display from Gary Jones, the midfield engine that gets the team moving through the gears.
He said: "There's a good spirit among the lads and a good mentality when you've got players like Gary Jones, who has got high standards.
"He doesn't allow any sloppiness round him on the pitch. When you've got someone like that it spreads.
"He demands that from the players round him and I thought he was outstanding again.
"Some of our attacking play was of the highest order. Football is always about putting the ball in the back of the net and I firmly believe we have players capable of doing it.
"We had the beating of them in one v one situations with Reid, Wells and Hines and obviously Hanson in the air. When you've got that, you've always got a chance of creating opportunities."
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Bradford City aim to bridge Watford gap
7:40am Tuesday 28th August 2012
By Simon Parker
City have been challenged to prove they are better than League Two at Watford tonight.
Gianfranco Zola's Championship side will be firm favourites to progress into the last 32 of the Capital One Cup.
But opposite number Phil Parkinson believes the Vicarage Road clash offers the perfect stage for his ambitious players to demonstrate they can cut it against better opponents.
After back-to-back home wins, City head south in confident mood as they look to bridge a two-division gulf.
Parkinson said: "A lot of our players have got their eye on wanting to play at a higher level one day and I don't blame them. Hopefully that will be with Bradford.
"There's a chance tonight to show you are capable of doing it. These are the sort of games when you've got to show you can live in the company of these players.
"We've got to be confident and take the game to them – it's a cup tie and we'll play it like one.
"Watford are a good side and they played very well against Birmingham. It's a great test for us.
"There was an air of disappointment when the draw was made but as the game approaches, we're really relishing it again."
Changes are expected, with Parkinson utilising the players who have been on the bench. Alan Connell, Garry Thompson, Stephen Darby and Jon McLaughlin could all be involved.
Parkinson added: "We will put pressure on ourselves to produce a performance. We have to be very organised and disciplined and compact as a team.
"We've got players who can cause problems. To do that, you need a strong base to play from.
"There are a few niggles but fresh legs at this stage can be very important.
"There will be one or two changes but I'm looking forward to seeing people play who haven't been involved in the past couple of games.
"We've got a few players I feel have been unlucky. Stephen Darby was one of our best players in pre- season but we just changed it round and he hasn't got in the team the last two games.
"Alan Connell, who was top scorer for Swindon last season, has done absolutely nothing wrong and there's others like Garry Thompson. It must be tough for them. Equally, you're best off being out of a team that's winning than being beaten."
Parkinson was amazed to hear that City's 5-1 thrashing of Wimbledon put them in positive goal difference for the first time in nearly three years. But he felt it was a just reward for the effort his side have been producing.
"It was emphatic and you've got to enjoy those days because they don't come along often. There were so many good parts.
"The lads are bubbling but we've got to keep reminding them to reproduce the work they are putting in.
"We've got a real strength of character in the team and that can take you a long way. It's good for Steve (Parkin) and I that we've got players who can manage it for us while the game's going on.
"There are experienced characters out there to pull people the right way.
"We're certainly keeping our feet on the ground because it's only the start of a marathon but the start has been good."
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