Bradford City 4 Rochdale 0: Bantams ready to become stars of the big screen

The League Cup triumphs over Arsenal and Aston Villa en route to Wembley understandably got plenty of mentions, as did Premier League victories over Chelsea and Liverpool. Beating Leeds United also proved a popular memory along with key wins during the promotion years of 1996, 1999 and 2013.

Judging by the manner in which Stuart McCall’s side dismantled Rochdale, the new £150,000 big screen that went fully live for the first time on Saturday could soon be heralding a first notable success of its own.

Certainly, the Bantams’ promotion credentials are growing with each passing week. After sharing six goals with Sheffield United in a breathless derby, Bradford then went to in-form AFC Wimbledon and snatched a dramatic late win through James Hanson.

To follow those two impressive displays with another to thrash Keith Hill’s Dale suggests McCall’s men are firmly in the hunt for a place in the top two.

It will not be easy, of course. Not with leaders Scunthorpe United, victorious again on the road at the weekend, rarely putting a foot wrong and both the Blades and Phil Parkinson’s Bolton Wanderers looking well equipped to go the distance.

But the Bantams are very much the real deal. Nicky Law continues to look too good for this level, while Timothee Dieng and Josh Cullen are displaying streetwise cunning and quality on the ball, which gives City the required control in midfield.

The club’s defensive record – just 14 goals have been conceded in 17 games – speaks for itself, while even the nagging concern of the opening weeks that McCall’s men might struggle for goals has been blown away by 10 in the club’s last three league outings.

All in all, therefore, plenty to smile about down Valley Parade right now.

“It was well deserved and an emphatic result,” said McCall. “All four goals were fantastic, the quality of the delivery was top drawer. We were very clinical against a very good side.

“Picking the man of the match must have been difficult. It could have been any of the back four. I also thought Josh Cullen was outstanding, so were Marshall and Billy Clarke.

“As for anything else, I am not looking too far ahead. We were decent against Rochdale, but there are probably 10 or 12 clubs whose managers will be happy with their own squads. There are some good sides in this league.

“But I am happy. I came off the training ground on Thursday and we’d not had a great week with going out of the Cup, but I felt, ‘this is a good group’. Everyone behind each other. I like that.”

Ahead of kick-off, the new screen treated fans to clips of famous City goals. Unfortunately, there were no replays of the action against Rochdale, either during the match or at the end of each half.

That was a shame, as some of Bradford’s play deserved a second viewing. This was especially the case with the second goal, a guided header from Dieng that came courtesy of a sublime cross from Clarke that would not have looked out of place at a much higher level.

Think Peter Beagrie, one of those former players shown on the big screen during the pre-match montage of highlights from the past, at his best and you will not be far off appreciating just how good Clarke’s delivery was.

Rochdale could do nothing to prevent a goal that looked inevitable from the moment the ball left Clarke’s left boot a minute before the interval, as surely even a visiting head getting to such a vicously inswinging cross would have also led to Lillis picking the ball out of the net.

Dieng’s second league goal in City colours came just three minutes after Clarke had opened the scoring with a clinical finish from a drilled cross from Law that had left the visitors’ backline doing a passable impression of the ‘mannequin challenge’ that has been sweeping social media in the past week or so.

Niall Canavan, booked in the first half for scything down Marshall, was left looking even more of a dummy just before the hour by Josh Cullen and referee Ross Joyce had no option but to send off the defender for another crude, late tackle.

If life had been hard for the visitors up to that point then it became impossible afterwards, as manager Hill admitted.

“If you play against direct teams – and I am not naming names – then you can get the ball back because they give you it,” said the Rochdale manager. “But Bradford didn’t and that was a big problem when down to 10 men.”

City added further to Dale’s woes by scoring from the free-kick that had led to Canavan’s dismissal, Hanson prodding in after his earlier header had been blocked by Lillis.

Marshall completed the rout with an exquisitely-curled free-kick with his so-called ‘weaker’ left foot that left the home fans in another bumper 18,205 crowd dreaming of a possible return to the Championship come May.

Bradford City: Sattelmaier; Darby, Vincelot, Knight-Percival, Meredith; Marshall (Morais 70), Dieng (Devine 76), Cullen, Law; B Clarke (Hiwula 70), Hanson. Unused substitutes: Cracknell, Morais, McArdle, Devine, Kilgallon.

Rochdale: Lillis; Rafferty (McNulty 62), Canavan, Keane, Bunney (McGahey 69); Camps, Morley (Noble-Lazarus 48); Cannon, Mendez-Laing, Thompson; Davies. Unused substitutes: Logan, Tanser, Gillam, Hollins.