Bradford City 1 Crawley Town 2: Red cards dominate night to forget for poor Bradford

Just a few hours after the dire state of the Bulls rugby league club’s finances were laid bare for all to see, the city suffered a further body blow to their sporting pride as the Bantams slipped further into danger at the wrong end of the Football League.

Second-half goals from Leon Clarke and Gary Alexander either side of Chris Dagnall’s first strike for City were enough to earn Crawley Town a victory that leaves the West Yorkshire club just four points clear of the drop zone.

With a daunting run-in still to come that includes meetings with four of the promotion-chasing pack in League Two, the alarm bells are ringing loudly at Valley Parade.

And just to add to Bradford’s woes, a full-blown brawl at the final whistle which saw a flurry of punches exchanged between the two sides led to Andrew Davies, Jon McLaughlin and Luke Oliver being sent off after the final whistle along with Crawley duo Claude Davies and Pablo Mills.

All three City men will now miss Saturday’s trip to third-bottom Plymouth Argyle – the game having taken on monumental significance – a potentially crippling blow for the Bantams.

Of course, City still have a potentially vital cushion on the bottom two so their plight can be considered nowhere near as grim as that of the Bulls, who need to raise £500,000 in the next fortnight merely to stay alive.

Nevertheless, the Bantams are in a hugely worrying place right now.

Not even winger Kyel Reid rushing back ahead of kick-off from London, where he had been waiting for the birth of his first child, could inspire City to a much-needed victory on a night when none of the sides below them in the table were in action.

But it was not to be and Bradford are now nervously looking over their shoulders after a night that left the 82 visiting supporters sporting huge smiles at the final whistle that contrasted with the worried frowns of the locals.

The sense of frustration felt by Bradfordians at the final whistle was only added to by the unseemly antics of Crawley manager Steve Evans and his staff throughout the night.

Every decision was contested regardless of whether the appeals had any basis in fact or not and their histrionics soon drew the scorn of not only the Bantams fans sitting behind the dugout but also Phil Parkinson.

It was easy to see why the City chief became so tired of his opposite number, Evans spending so much time with his arms outstretched while shouting at referee Ian Williamson the suspicion was he had spent too long looking at the statue of Jesus Christ in Rio and fancied himself as something of a latter-day saviour.

Sadly, the direct and physical approach favoured by the visitors last night could do nothing to save a largely dire first half.

With the officials hardly helping matters by flagging or blowing the whistle at every turn, the first half never got going and chances were at a premium.

There was, in fact, just one save of note during those opening 45 minutes and it belonged to Crawley’s Michael Kuipers.

Craig Fagan was the City player denied, his shot being flicked wide by Kuipers after the ball had looped up off former Rotherham United defender Mills.

The visitors offered little of note other than Evans’s ridiculous antics on the touchline and it was a blessed mercy for the 9,773 crowd when referee Williamson blew for half-time.

Any hopes the home fans had, however, of City seizing the initiative after the restart were dashed by Crawley taking the lead on 54 minutes.

The goal was a simple affair, a free-kick from Scott Davies being floated over towards the back post where Leon Clarke rose unopposed to plant a firm header beyond McLaughlin.

Parkinson’s response was to bring Ricky Ravenhill and Nahki Wells on from the bench and switch formation to 3-4-1-2 in the hope the change would kick-start his side.

City did snatch an equaliser 18 minutes from time when Dagnall headed Reid’s free-kick beyond the dive of Kuipers and into the corner of the net.

But the points were still destined for Sussex with Crawley regaining the lead just four minutes later when Davies skipped past his Bantams namesake before chipping a delightful cross that Alexander finished cleanly from close range.

City pushed hard for an equaliser but found no joy before the final whistle blew to kick-start an unsavoury massive brawl that saw Bradford’s Davies, who already has two red cards to his name this term and is now facing at least a five-game ban, wade in along with Luke Oliver and McLaughlin as punches were exchanged with several Crawley players.

Stewards had to race on to the field to separate the warring factions as the melee spread across the field in several directions.

It meant an unseemly end to a shocking day for the old Wool city and one that is likely to have serious implications for City.

Bradford City: McLaughlin; Kozluk (Ravenhill 54, Flynn 71), Oliver, Davies, Fry (Wells 55); Fagan, Syers, Bullock, Reid; Dagnall, Hanson. Unused substitutes: Annerson, Smalley.

Crawley Town: Kuipers; Simpson, Mills, McFadzean; Howell; Davies, Akpan (Cummings 90), Bullman, Torres; L Clarke (Watt 84), Alexander (Davis 87). Unused substitutes: Shearer, B Clarke, Cummings.

Referee: I Williamson (Berkshire).