Bradford City manager Graham Alexander hails team ethic as Bantams snatch last-gasp victory at Salford City
AN overjoyed Graham Alexander hailed the commitment of his Bradford City side after they struck at the death to secure a dramatic comeback victory over play-off-chasing Salford City.
In a breathless encounter, the hosts drew first blood through Frankie Okoronkwo’s emphatic 30th-minute finish before Bradley Halliday fired home Tayo Adaramola’s cutback to restore parity after the interval.
Targeting a third successive League Two win, Bradford refused to share the spoils inside a gloriously sunny Peninsula Stadium and their superior strength in depth told deep into stoppage time when substitute Michael Mellon opened his account for the club in fairytale fashion, latching onto Calum Kavanagh’s pass to squeeze the ball low past Salford goalkeeper Jamie Jones.
After a hard-fought match when Bradford suffered first-half injuries to starters Antoni Sarcevic and Romoney Crichlow-Noble, Alexander reserved praise for his fringe players who stepped up to make an important contribution off the bench.
He said: “The players have created a strong sense of responsibility, accountability and teamwork and they are all putting the team ahead of themselves individually.
“It was a physical game and we have lost a couple of players through injury but the players who are coming into the team off the bench are continuing to play the way that we play. They have given everything and are emptying themselves game in, game out.”
Although Bradford required maximum effort and four minutes of additional time to edge past their ninth-placed opponents, the visitors posed the greater threat for lengthy periods of the contest and were unfortunate not to win more comfortably.
An acrobatic save from Jones prevented the Bantams from taking an early lead through a curling effort from Jamie Walker before Tommy Leigh hit the top of the crossbar with a venomous strike from the corner of the box.
Alexander was confident in his Bradford team’s ability to overturn the half-time deficit: “I said to the guys if we don’t give anything silly away and stay disciplined, I thought we’d have the quality to score, and it proved that way. It’s a happy changing room in there because they know it was a real tough fixture to win today.”
Salford City: Jones, Mnoga, Tilt, Negru, Berkoe (Woodburn 78), Watson (Wright 78), Lund, Fornah, Longelo (Taylor 70), Okoronkwo (N'Mai 70), Adelakun. Unused substitutes: Young, Malcolm, Warrington.
Bradford City: S Walker, Baldwin, Shepherd, Crichlow-Noble (Huntington 40), Halliday, Khela (Lapslie 69), Smallwood, Adaramola, J Walker (Kavanagh 69), Sarcevic (Mellon 25), Leigh (Pointon 70). Unused substitutes: Hilton, Byrne.
Referee: Martin Coy (County Durham).