Late Goal Sinks Bantams.

Bradfords season is all but over after last nights 2-1 defeat at Rochdale.

Once again the dreaded last 10 minutes syndrome returned.Rochdale substitute Adam Le Fondre came on and hit the winning goal with two minutes left.

Peter Thorne’s 13th goal of the season from the penalty spot in the second half looked to have salvaged a point for the Bantams.But substitute Le Fondre had the last laugh as he had done at Valley Parade in February.

Pint sized dynamo and by far Rochdales best player David Perkins took only 21 seconds to fire Rochdale in front after poor play from Eddie Johnson.

Rochdale 1 Bradford City 0

Eddie Johnson tried to make up for his costly mistake and hit a powerful drive against the post after eight minutes following a clever free-kick move.
City were second best to the ball with Dales Perkins in perticular,bossing everything in midfield.

Half Time Rochdale 1 Bradford City 0

Bradford were handed a lifeline in the 59th minute after Joe Colbeck was tumbled over in the box by Tom Kennedy.
Up stepped Peter Thorne to score from the spot,could another spirited comeback be on the cards?

Rochdale 1 Bradford City 1

The answer to that was no.City failed to build on the equaliser and looked lethargic towards the end.Perhaps the second half performance up in Darlington had drained the players energy.
McCall tried to freshen thing up with three late substitutions but they made little impact.
City nearly equalised for a second time in stoppage time when Mark Bower headed against the bar but Rochdale deserved their win on the night,they were far the better team in my opinion.


Final Score. Rochdale 2 Bradford City 1

Player Ratings

Loach 5
Made a very good save in the first half,acrobatically pushing the ball over the bar.

Starosta 4
Poor,their number 11 had him in his pocket all night.

Heckingbottom 4
Poor performance.

Bower 5
Steady.

Wetherall 6
Pick of the defenders by a mile.

Colbeck 6
Made a meal of penalty with a classic dive.

Conlon 6
Conlon was playing with enthusiasm but showed little in front of goal.

Thorne 6
Well struck penalty.

Nix 4
Poor Performance.

Johnson 4
Another Poor Performance from Eddie

Penford 5
Drifted in and out of game.

Medley N/A
Replaced Thorne.

Rhodes N/A
Replaced Nix.
Replaced Johnson.