Lee Angol praised for keeping cool in white-hot Bradford City atmosphere

Derek Adams praised striker Lee Angol, whose dramatic last- gasp penalty earned Bradford City a 2-1 win over Oldham Athletic in the new manager’s first home game in charge in front of a bumper 17,264 crowd.
Lee Angol of Bradford City playing against Nottingham Forest in the week. (Picture: Tony Marshall/Getty Images)Lee Angol of Bradford City playing against Nottingham Forest in the week. (Picture: Tony Marshall/Getty Images)
Lee Angol of Bradford City playing against Nottingham Forest in the week. (Picture: Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

Angol, who joined Bradford from Leyton Orient in the close season had given the Bantams a 34th-minute lead when fellow striker Andy Cook flicked Richard O’Donnell’s long goal kick into his path and he scored with a low shot from 12 yards.

Angol and Cook both missed second-half chances and Dylan Bahamboula appeared to have made them pay when he equalised early in the five minutes of stoppage time with a low shot from just inside the box which was deflected past O’Donnell.

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However, in the final minute Angol was brought down in the penalty area by Carl Piergianni and he stepped up to score from the spot with the last kick of the match.

Bradford City manager Derek Adams (Picture: Tony Marshall/Getty Images)Bradford City manager Derek Adams (Picture: Tony Marshall/Getty Images)
Bradford City manager Derek Adams (Picture: Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

Adams said: “There was a lot of pressure on Lee, but he handled it well. He has done well in pre-season training and his confidence is high. He had enough power in his shot to get it past the keeper and into the net.”

Adams praised the players for coping well with all the expectations surrounding the match. He said: “The players were magnificent and dealt well with what was a huge occasion. Everyone was building up for today and the players dealt with it well. The atmosphere was electric and we fed off it. We needed a second goal and had umpteen opportunities to kill the game off but the players kept going.”

Bradford City: O’Donnell, Cousin-Dawson, Ridehalgh, O’Connor, Canavan, Watt, Evans (Vernam 51), Gillead, Cooke, Cook, Angol. Unused subs: Hornby, Foulds, Kelleher, Staunton, Crankshaw , Lavery.

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Oldham Athletic: Rogers, Clarke (Blyth 89), Hart, Cisse, Piergianni, Adams (Dernley 76), Whelan, Kellor-Dunn, Stobbs, Bahamboula, Hopcutt (Hope 54). Unused subs: Danielewicz (gk), Darrie, Fage, Jameson, Diarra.

Referee: Stephen Martin (Staffordshire).

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