Mark Hughes hails ‘huge’ victory at league leaders Forest Green Rovers

Midfielder Cooke opened the scoring in the 64th minute for the visitors when he drilled in a shot from the edge of the box for his third goal of the season.

Defender Udoka Godwin-Malife picked up a second yellow card in the 77th minute, but Forest Green goalkeeper Luke McGee was caught out as they pressed for a late leveller.

McGee went up for a 95th-minute corner, but City striker Cook raced upfield to slot his 11th of the campaign into an empty net to give Hughes his first win at the third time of asking as the Bantams ended a five-game losing run.

“That was a reward for the last two weeks of effort the players have put in. I was really pleased with the performance and it’s a great three points for us against the league leaders,” reflected Hughes.

“The first goal was hugely important. It gave us a huge lift and we managed to see out the game quite comfortably.

“When Forest Green went down to 10 men it didn’t make too much of a difference as they still threw bodies forward. This is huge for us in terms of morale and confidence. We came to the league leaders and deserved to win. We have a number of games now before the end of the season to build momentum.”

It is a quick turnaround for the Bantams as they travel to Hartlepool United tomorrow.

Forest Green: McGee, Godwin-Malife, Moore-Taylor, Cargill, Wilson, Adams, Sweeney (Young 89), Cadden, Aitchison (McAteer 71), Matt, Stevens (March 89). Subs Not Used: Stevenson, Hendry, Diallo, Thomas.

Bradford: Bass, Hendrie, Songo’o, O’Connor, Foulds, Evans, Watt, Gilliead (Sutton 63),Cooke (Lavery 90), Cook, Pereira (Walker 63). Subs Not Used: O’Donnell, Threlkeld, Kelleher, Delfouneso.

Referee: O Yates (Staffordshire).