Bradford City 1 Plymouth Argyle 1: Hanson delighted to atone and lift gloom over struggling City

BEING Bradford-born, striker James Hanson knows just how crucial it is for the city not to lose a second club from the Football League.

The towering frontman also admitted that defeat on Saturday would have inflicted a pyschologically damaging blow to the club’s prospects of retaining their League status.

Instead, Hanson came to the rescue with his sixth goal of the season and one which he felt he owed his team-mates on two fronts.

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“To be fair, I had not scored for a while but that was one of the best goals I have scored for Bradford,” said the 6ft 4in forward, who connected first-time with a low cross from Kyel Reid and sent the ball rocketing into the roof of the net before marker Maxime Blanchard could challenge in the 86th minute.

It was no more than Bradford deserved even though the Pilgrims had looked far from a basement club.

The point also kept City above the bottom two and lifted spirits for Friday’s trip to second-placed Southend.

Hanson is determined City will not follow in the footsteps of Bradford Park Avenue who were voted out of the Football League in 1970 and replaced by Cambridge United.

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But he confessed: “It would definitely have had a mental affect if we had not got the equaliser – it would have been all doom and gloom but we got the point

“It was my sixth goal but it was the first in 10 and, after missing quite a sitter at Gillingham the previous week, it was important to score.

“To be fair, it was probably my man who scored their goal so I just wanted to get the team back in it. It was probably the worst ball Kyel had put in all afternoon. He had put in some great balls and I hadn’t got in on the end of them so the worst one he got in I took a swing at and it flew in.

“It was one for the team as we had to ensure we didn’t lose. I should have done better with my header a few minutes earlier,” he added of the 68th minute deep cross from Jack Compton which thudded off goalkeeper Jack Cole’s chest.

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Compton had been brought in at the last minute when Hanson’s strike partner, Ross Hannah, damaged a hamstring in the warm-up, leaving Craig Fagan to move inside.

City were obviously unsettled in the opening 15 minutes as Plymouth, lifted by a 4-1 win in their last match, knocked the ball around confidently as the Bantams overdid the long ball aimed in Hanson’s direction.

When they did settle, City had Plymouth on the back foot through the wing play of Reid and Compton and should have gone ahead before the break, Luke Oliver inches away from connecting with a deep corner, Fagan sending a looping header just over, Cole beating away a curling shot from Compton and captain Michael Flynn being denied by a fantastic goalline clearance from Darren Purse as he connected with a cross from Compton.

Former Sheffield Wednesday defender Purse’s intervention was all the more remarkable as he was suffering from blurred vision after a clash of heads with Hanson and did not appear after the break.

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Hanson added: “It wasn’t ideal losing my strike partner because we had built a good understanding and I felt gutted for him but Fagan came in and did a good job.

“A lot of the lads feel the shot Purse cleared was over the line.”

Failure to capitalise on their opportunities looked like costing City for, as in the last home league game against Rotherham, they made a sluggish start to the second period.

Plymouth took advantage and when a pack of players missed their first corner of the game in the 58th minute, it fell for captain Simon Walton to drill home a shot from the far side of the area, Craig Sutherland initially signalling that he had turned the ball home from close range only to later admit he had not got a touch.

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City heads could easily have dropped and the fans could have turned but, apart from a few grumblings, they got behind the side, acknowledging the players’ refusal to throw in the towel.

Nahki Wells replaced Fagan up front but Reid was always the key to unlocking the visitors’ defence.

Midfield duo Flynn and Ricky Ravenhill also pushed up, the pair sandwiching Hanson’s equaliser with shots off target.

Plymouth were reduced to 10 men in the four minutes of stoppage time when left-back Onismor Bhasera, who had been booked in the first half for flattening Compton, tripped Reid and received his second yellow.

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City went close to taking full advantage, Flynn striking a shot which rebounded off Wells into the path of Ravenhill, who hit wide from 12 yards when, with a little more composure, he would have at least hit the target.

Looking ahead, Hanson said: “There is still a long way to go but to have lost would have made it tough at Southend on Friday. It’s a massive game and one where we are not expected to do anything but we usually do well against the big teams away and we will be up for it. We want to go there and get a result to put pressure on those who are playing on the Saturday.”

Bradford City: McLaughlin, Ramsden, Oliver, Davies, Seip; Compton, Ravenhill, Flynn, Reid; Fagan (Wells 69), Hanson. Unused substitutes: Duke, Jones, Mitchell, Moore.

Plymouth Argyle: Cole, Berry, Purse (Nelson 46), Blanchard, Bhasera; Atkinson, Hourihane, Walton, Hemmings; Chadwick, Sutherland (Daley 80). Unused substitutes: Larrieu, Feeney, Young.

Referee: B Malone (Wiltshire).