Tuesday, April 09, 2013

L2 W1-0 (H) Northampton Saturday April 6, 2013. K.O. 3:00PM. #bcafc

Read this article online
http://texasbantam.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/46810838356/

CFML Daily News
http://paper.li/f-1315926867

Current table
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/live/tables/cc_league2.html

Fixtures
http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/Fixtures/0,,10266,00.html
http://m.espn.go.com/soccer/clubhouse?teamId=387&lang=EN

The "Social media Corner"
http://paper.li/f-1315926867
http://www.bradfordcity.tv/

Official Mobile app
http://communicatoremail.com/IN/Y2tx0dX-0UIRu4P1_588C9Eehl64XmQ-JA8WroOSpEQ/WebView.aspx

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The run in to seventh place (or third...)


    Tuesday, 9 April - Bradford v Bristol Rovers
    Saturday 13 April - Chesterfield v Bradford
    Tuesday 16 April - Bradford v Rotherham
    Saturday, 20 April - Bradford v Burton
    Saturday, 27 April - Cheltenham v Bradford

If anyone wants to predict the final table, there is a predictor buried in the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/predictor/default.stm.


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Signings, Loans and Injuries


Injuries
Luke Oliver, Achillies, out for the 2012/13 season


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Match Media & Stats
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/10338421.Live_blog__Bantams_v_Northampton/?ref=eb
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21979701

Head to Head
http://www.11v11.com/teams/bradford-city/tab/opposingTeams
http://www.statto.com/football/teams/bradford-city/

Pictures
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/sport_bantams_pics2012/
(The T&A picture link will dfault to the last match for which pictures are available)

"Last Match" Highlights on Bantams Player
http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/player/LastMatch/0,,10266~1612005~36,00.html

BBC highlights (uk only)


Match stats
http://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=234#teamTabs=results

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When the dust settled - match report


Bantams motor North-wards as Wells' goal turns the tables on play-off rivals

8:10am Monday 8th April 2013

By Simon Parker

Bradford City 1 Northampton Town 0

The final scores flashed up like winning lottery balls.

Exeter 0 Dagenham 1, Fleetwood 0 Rochdale 3, Morecambe 2 Rotherham 1, Plymouth 2 Cheltenham 0; the lucky sequence kept on coming.

With each number, the cheer around Valley Parade grew louder until it crescendoed into a throaty chorus of "we are going up". It was sung with

joy, intensity – and conviction.

Because believe it or not, there is a genuine feeling growing that City can do this.

They are no longer five points off the play-offs, or seven – or even eight, as they stood this time last week on the way to Torquay.

The one-place gap to seventh is now just two. A mere tantalising two. So close that you can almost touch it.

Another win tomorrow against a Bristol Rovers side who have stormed from nowhere and the barrier will be breached. Suddenly the prospect of going

back to Wembley does not sound quite so outlandish.

It is too easy to say that a play-off place is in City's hands now. Win all the remaining games and they are guaranteed top seven.

That's a mighty tall order, particularly given the quality of opponent between now and a potentially Boothferry Park-esque trip to Cheltenham on

April 27.

But the fact that City have a control on their destiny is remarkable. When they trailed off 4-1 losers at Exeter three weeks ago, who could have

predicted such a turnaround in so short a space of time?

City's double-clinching victory over North-ampton was the first time since October they had recorded back-to-back victories – since beating the

same opponents at Sixfields in fact.

If that was long overdue so was a goal for their top scorer, though nobody should have been remotely surprised to see Nahki Wells convert against

his favourite opposition.

The Cobblers can't say they hadn't been warned – he was splashed across the back page on Friday announcing that the two-month drought would end

that weekend.

It was the sixth goal the Bermudian had scored against them in five meetings.

So he was hardly in the 66-1 long-shot bracket like Bingley's Grand National winner Auroras Encore, even if he chose Aintree day to sink

Northampton for the second year running.

Their boss Aidy Boothroyd was magnanimous in defeat to his hometown club, if somewhat miffed that the latest downfall had come from a familiar

source.

"If I was playing against Wells, I'd just have to smash him," he said, admittedly with a hint of a smile.

"He does brilliantly against us and he was very good again. He was always going to score.

"No matter how quiet Wells is, he always looks like he might get one. He's certainly a player that has done very well for Bradford.

"The management team have turned this club right round and obviously being from Bradford that pleases me, though maybe not right now."

The goal midway through the first half was hardly a belter but nobody of a home persuasion gave two hoots about that.

Garry Thompson helped the ball on from inside his own half, Northampton keeper Lee Nicholls had an inexplicable rush of blood and came charging

out of his goal – and on-loan defender Nathan Cameron obligingly headed over him.

Wells chased the ball in and tapped in by the post with a carbon copy to one he had scored at the same end against Oxford in January. Only this

time, there was no away fightback.

With three previous meetings this season, both sides knew exactly what to expect from each other. But then you don't have to play Northampton at

all to guess how they will come at you.

Their style is as difficult on the eye as that lime green away kit.

Big, strong and very direct, the Cobblers are nothing fancy but still mightily effective at what they do.

The sight of Andrew Davies shambling out of the dressing room looking like a man twice his age showed the physical exertions that the City back

four had been put through. For much of the afternoon it became a private game between Davies and Ben Tozer, the Northampton midfielder with the

prodigious long throw-in.

Tozer would launch another missile into the penalty area and Davies would be there through the crowd to nod clear. It happened time and time and

time again.

And you sensed Davies, who can hardly be described as a shrinking violet, loved every minute.

"I've been at Stoke City a long time so I'm used to that," he grinned.

City had the chances to put the result to bed and avoid any late discomfort.

Thompson headed over the bar and Davies was guilty of missing from a free-kick unmarked six yards out. Then Nicholls atoned for his earlier

blunder with big saves at the start of the second half from Gary Jones and the lively Kyel Reid.

By that point, Boothroyd had ditched the third central defender and gone for the big gun. Or should that be biggest gun as Adebayo Akinfenwa was

wheeled off the bench.

Phil Parkinson described him as an "awkward customer". That's big unit, in gaffer speak.

Akinfenwa's arrival added more urgency and a hint of desperation to the mix. Second balls were scrapped for with the ferocity of a Wrestlemania

tag match.

Davies and Rory McArdle had to get through even more at the sharp end of the battle. When the defence was momentarily opened up, Jon McLaughlin

made a superb save from Ben Harding's volley.

Parkinson ensured City did not become bogged down in their own territory by keeping two up front for every Northampton set-piece. It also stopped

the visitors from cramming everybody forward.

The counter-attack threat allowed the defence some respite, with Reid always a willing outlet. Northampton, for all their huff and puff, offered

nothing of real danger after that Harding chance.

Valley Parade greeted the final whistle with a mighty roar. That was followed with reactions just as vocal as the other results appeared on the

scoreboard.

It seems that this season isn't going quietly.

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Bradford City fit the bill for play-offs, says Parkinson

7:00am Monday 8th April 2013

By Simon Parker

Phil Parkinson predicts League Two's play-off race will be a case of survival of the fittest – and backed the buzzing Bantams to match any of

their rivals.

City will move into the top seven with a fourth victory in five games at home to Bristol Rovers tomorrow.

Saturday's win over third-placed Northampton has sent confidence soaring – and suddenly a promotion finish is right back on the agenda.

Leaders Gillingham were the only winners in the top seven as the other results fell into City's lap.

Exeter, Rotherham and Cheltenham all suffered shock defeats to suddenly open the door for the Bantams. Having been eight points adrift ten days

ago, the gap has been slashed to two.

With Exeter – who have lost three in a row – visiting Rotherham's New York Stadium tomorrow, a City win would guarantee they take over the last

play-off slot.

Parkinson's side have not been that high since New Year's Day.

Parkinson admitted: "It's great we are still in the mix and you can feel the expectation out there and in the dressing room.

"Players are coming back to form and the lads look good physically. That's so important.

"I don't think that fitness wise there are many teams who can live with us in this league.

"It was a strange old day and you certainly wouldn't want to have a bet in this division.

"But I said this time last year when we were down the bottom, that teams at the bottom improve. If you're in the top half and take your eye off

the ball, you get punished.

"There is very little difference (between top and bottom) and you're seeing that at the moment. Every game we've got now is great to be involved

in."

Nahki Wells ended a two-month goal drought by cashing in on a defensive blunder to score the winner. It was his 19th of the season – and sixth in

five games against the Cobblers.

Parkinson said: "Nahki's looked sharp again. The good thing is that he has got his rewards for training well and a couple of good performances.

"Hanson and Wells have always done well against them. Northam-pton were concerned, which was why they came with three centre halves at the back

and that makes the first goal so important.

"Northampton are a very good side. You don't get to be third at this stage of the season otherwise.

"We knew what they were going to offer and we had to be very strong and physical against them.

"We had some great chances to kill the game off but we got that important goal and that was crucial for us.

"The energy of the lads was terrific. The atmosphere was great and I enjoyed being part of the game."

Andrew Davies passed a fitness test on his calf to play and Parkinson praised the way he dealt with the Northampton bombardment of crosses and

long throw-ins.

"He was a colossus. Against Northampton, your two centre halves and goalkeeper are very important. We gave Davo the job of making that first ball

in from the long throws and he was immense."

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Davies issues Wembley rallying call to Bradford City

7:50am Tuesday 9th April 2013

By Simon Parker

Confident Andrew Davies is dreaming of a return to Wembley as he gears himself up for the latest round of City's play-off fight tonight.

Victory against in-form Bristol Rovers at Valley Parade would propel Phil Parkinson's side into the top seven for the first time in over three months.

Defender Davies played like a warrior in the weekend win over Northampton and is ready to put his body on the line again. He would love the chance of a second Wembley appearance of the year in the League Two play-off final.

Davies said: "If that's not enough of an incentive, I don't know what is. That would be brilliant.

"Ask anyone and the (Capital One Cup) final was the best day of our career, even if the result didn't go our way.

"The atmosphere was unbelievable and seeing the Bradford fans singing away like they were will always live with me. Imagine going there again.

"There is so much to play for. Even being seven points off automatic (promotion) with a game in hand sounds good to me.

"I just think that whatever happens, it's been a fantastic year and we're going to go out fighting. I'm sure all the lads will back me up on that one."

Rovers have been on a storming run since John Ward replaced Mark McGhee in charge in December and have taken 39 points from their 19 games in 2013. But Davies believes City have also got the bit between their teeth at the right time.

He said: "It's a massive game but Saturday was huge as well. If we'd got beaten then, it would have knocked us back again.

"There's no reason why we can't beat Bristol Rovers. I feel on paper we're a better team than them – but only if we go out there and work our socks off like we have.

"It's shown in the last few games that if you're prepared to work hard, you'll get the rewards."

Recent results around them have all gone in City's favour as nerves invade the promotion run-in. The top two were the only winners of the seven sides above them over the weekend.

"It's been a long season and the lads have been fantastic, obviously getting to the final," said Davies.

"I feel like we deserve a bit of luck. I think we've deserved a bit more in some of the league games than what we've got.

"We've been on the end of a couple of bad results but we've got an honest bunch of lads in that dressing room. We're all trying to do the right thing and we have earned those breaks."

Davies passed a fitness test on a calf problem to play on Saturday and is willing to play through the pain again for another must-win encounter.

He said: "I'll be right. Patch me up, wheel me out and I'm good to go again.

"It's important for me to play games and help the lads in every way I possibly can. People say I'm a leader and I try to play like that every time.

"I don't want to be sitting on the side watching the team play Northampton and Bristol Rovers. I want to be out there doing everything I can to help.

"We know what we've got to do. The manager has instilled into us how he wants to play and sometimes it's not pretty but it's getting us results."

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Misinformation from BBC website?
Web page unknown

"Adebayor's goal was Tottenham's second fastest in the Premier League after
Ledley King's strike after 10 seconds in a **win** at Bradford in December 2000"

Ledley King scored in the 1st minute
Jamie Lawrence scored in the 9th minute
Sol Campbell scored in the 21st minute

Half time City 1 Spurs 2

Chris Armstrong scored in the 54th minute
Dean Windass scored in the 69th minute
Beni Carbone scored in the 89th minute

Full time City 3 Spurs 3

And then more facts...

"Aren't Spurs the only team never to beat City in both Premier League seasons ?"

We only lost once to Spurs 2-1 in April 2001, but we beat Boro once and drew the other three.

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