Bradford City 3 Coventry City 3: Nerveless Wells sees justice is served in thriller

SOMETIMES in a season, there are games where neither side deserves to lose.
Nahki Wells and James Hanson celebrate his first goal.Nahki Wells and James Hanson celebrate his first goal.
Nahki Wells and James Hanson celebrate his first goal.

Yesterday was one such occasion, as this tale of two Citys turned into a true epic that will live long in the memory of not only the 14,322 hardy souls who braved a cold winter’s afternoon in Bradford, but also those watching at home on television.

Wonderfully incisive attacking play, almighty defensive howlers and plenty of contentious calls from the officials – this contest had a little bit of everything, including one final dramatic act deep into stoppage time as Nahki Wells rescued a point for Bradford with a pinpoint penalty.

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The ice-cool 95th-minute finish from 12 yards by the Bermudian, whose hat-trick was the first time he had got on the scoresheet in a little over two months, may have left Coventry rueing their luck.

But what Wells’s late penalty did do was ensure justice was done as neither side deserved to lose an absorbing contest that was a huge credit to League One.

The only sour note of the afternoon came afterwards when Coventry manager Steven Pressley labelled Bradford’s style of play – rather crassly considering the entertainment that had been on display – as “dark age football”.

Predictably, it brought a stinging rebuke from Phil Parkinson. The Bantams chief said: “That is an amazing comment from someone who has just arrived in English football.

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“We play with a balance, and I think we got that balance right in the first half. We passed it well, got the ball out wide and delivered crosses.

“Second half, there were times when we could have got that extra pass in and didn’t. But he (Pressley) has clearly not watched our progress over the past 18 months.”

On the game itself, Parkinson added: “I thought we showed great character to come back from 2-0 down, live on television and after such a disappointing defeat at Rotherham (in the FA Cup) last weekend.

“Coventry have two very good strikers. Steven Pressley must be delighted he has inherited those two strikers. But I always thought we could score goals. Nahki has his sharpness back and that was what he is all about.”

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City’s afternoon started in dreadful fashion, Coventry taking just 65 seconds to go ahead.

Carl Baker may have got the credit of an assist thanks to his floated free-kick but, in truth, Jon McLaughlin and Rory McArdle played as big a role by colliding with each other while trying to clear.

The upshot was the ball being knocked from the grasp of the Bantams’ goalkeeper and falling to Andy Webster, who made no mistake by firing in from 15 yards.

Worse was to come for Bradford as just five minutes later the Sky Blues doubled their advantage.

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Again, poor defending was to blame as a dithering McArdle was dispossessed by Callum Wilson on the edge of the home penalty area. Wilson hit a first-time shot that McLaughlin could only parry to Leon Clarke and the striker made no mistake with the finish.

Two goals behind on live television would have caused many teams to crumble. Bradford, though, are made of sterner stuff and after Kyel Reid had gone close with a volley, the hosts reduced the arrears in the 17th minute.

As with Coventry’s early double, calamitous defending was a major factor as goalkeeper Joe Murphy rashly raced from his area to deal with a long punt forward.

Realising too late the mistake he had made, Murphy could only watch helplessly as James Hanson beat him to the bouncing ball.

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Jordan Clarke then compounded the goalkeeper’s error by missing an attempted clearance completely to leave Wells with a chance he gleefully accepted.

It was the Bermuda international’s first goal since netting twice in a 2-2 draw with Colchester United on September 14, but he only had to wait another 11 minutes for his 10th of the League One season.

Once again, Wells owed a huge debt to a flick-on by Hanson before coolly sliding the ball past Murphy.

The pace remained unrelenting as Gary Jones fired just wide and Wells curled a free-kick that clipped the top of the wall before flying over.

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Coventry, however, were destined to have the final word of a pulsating first half thanks to a thunderous finish from Wilson that beat McLaughlin from a tight angle.

There was still time for McArdle to head inches wide from Jones’s free-kick before the 14,322 crowd were given a much needed breather by referee Kevin Friend, whose last Bradford game had been the Capital One Cup final, blowing for half-time.

After the restart, the pace remained unrelenting as Wells curled a free-kick onto the top of the crossbar in between Franck Moussa wasting two gilt-edged chances at the other end. Hanson then headed wastefully over from three yards out after mis-judging his leap to meet Mark Yeates’s cross before a delightful through ball released Wells.

On this occasion, Bradford’s top scorer was unable to apply the necessary finish and Murphy saved easily.

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Despite a couple of other near misses for the Bantams, that appeared to be that.

But then, in the final minute of stoppage time, a long ball forward from Stephen Darby saw Jordan Clarke, under heavy pressure from Hanson, inexplicably handle inside his own area.

Referee Friend immediately pointed to the spot, meaning all eyes turned to Wells.

He took his time before stepping forward to finish with aplomb as Murphy got nowhere near the spot-kick despite guessing correctly and diving to his right.

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It meant honours deservedly ended even, and although Bradford have now gone seven games without a win – their longest such run under Parkinson – there was little doubt the delight felt by the noisy home fans at the final whistle.