Bradford 3 Barnet 0: Home record intact as Jones leads way

A burst of three goals in 10 minutes at the start of the second half condemned Barnet to their fifth defeat in six matches.

Jones, a prime target for two previous managers, Stuart McCall and Peter Jackson, joined City from Rochdale during the summer and has impressed with his energy and skill.

Parkin said: “At 35 Gary Jones defies logic, storming around the field and still going at the end.

“He is a role model for the younger players and shows how much effort you have to put in to play as long as he has.

“The crowd were frustrated in the latter part of the first half, but they also knew we had players on the pitch capable of creating and scoring goals.

“The message was to stay patient, get the set plays right and keep going.

“Full credit to them – they kept doing that and the supporters went home happy.”

After a first half almost devoid of clear-cut chances, Bradford broke the deadlock two minutes after the interval with a header from leading scorer James Hanson after Barnet failed to clear Jones’s free-kick .

Alan Connell made up for a bad fifth-minute miss by scoring Bradford’s second goal three minutes later after goalkeeper Graham Stack failed to hold Kyel Reid’s low, left-wing cross.

Defender Andrew Davies added a third after 57 minutes, heading home from close range from another well-taken free kick from Jones.

Bradford City: McLaughlin, McArdle, Davies, Oliver, Meredith, Hines, Jones, Doyle (Atkinson 81mins), Reid (Thompson 81mins), Hanson, Connell (Wells 70mins). Unused substitutes: Duke, Darby, Ravenhill, McHugh.

Barnet: Stack, Fuller, Kamdjo, Stephens, Brown, Oster (Gambin 66mins), Lowe (Edgar 77mins), Weston, Pearce, Holmes, Nurse. Unused substitutes: O’Brien, Fortune, Saville, Lee, Abdulla.

Referee: Rob Lewis (Shrewsbury).

Man of the match: Gary Jones.