Bradford City left to rue failure to take chances against Harrogate Town

Having got themselves back in the game courtesy of Andy Cook’s 78th-minute strike, the Bantams looked the more likely winners at Wetherby Road, only to be stung on the counter-attack just before the end of the regulation 90.

And although he felt that his players did enough to take maximum points themselves, Trueman admitted that they too often came up short at “key moments.”

“When we got the goal back, it only looked like there was one team that was going to go on and win the game, so it was difficult to take when they hit us on the counter.

“We changed shape to try and get back into the game and we did, we got back to 1-1. We looked like the only team going to win the game, but we left ourselves a little bit vulnerable.

“This group of players, in terms of effort, gave us everything. At key moments we weren’t good enough and they took their chances when they were on.

“Bits of quality weren’t there when we needed it and that was the difference between the two teams.”

City could have had a penalty at 0-0 when Cook seized on Connor Hall’s under-hit back-pass and took the ball around Harrogate goalkeeper Joe Cracknell.

The experienced striker opted to stay on his feet under contact from the ex-Bradford custodian, but saw his strike at goal blocked by the covering Will Smith.

And a frustrated Trueman was left to question why his player was punished by referee James Adcock for trying to be honest.

“There’s a penalty decision that goes against us,” he added. “The referee says if he [Cook] goes down it’s a penalty, which I can’t make sense of.”

Defeat sees Bradford drop to 13th in the table, but they remain just four points shy of the play-offs.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.