A first half Gareth Evans penalty was enough to see off a stubborn Stevenage side and secure the Bantams their first league win of the season in the process.

City were made to fight hard to register their first points on the board though after a spirited display from the visitors.

The Bantams, who clearly suffered some after effects from their dramatic extra time Carling Cup victory during the week, were forced to defend for long periods.

Lee Bullock won City's match winning penalty midway through the first period when the midfielder was upended by Joel Byrom.

Evans took full advantage of the penalty decision to send Chris Day the wrong way and ultimately score the decisive goal of the match at the same time.

For the visit of the league newcomers, and for the second match running, Peter Taylor made several changes to his starting eleven.

Lewis Hunt, James Hanson, Tom Adeyemi, Luke Oliver and Gareth Evans all returned to the starting line up, while Simon Ramsden, Jake Speight and Steve Williams were rested.

Shane Duff skippered the side in Ramsden's absence.

Arriving at their first ever league away game, Stevenage could have been forgiven for sitting back and being content with a point.

From the off though, Boro's intentions were clearly to attack the Bantams and make their presence felt.

Stevenage's Chris Beardsley flashed the first chance of the match just past the far post, while Ronnie Henry failed to make the most of some space in the box and fired well wide.

City were struggling to find their top gear during the first period, but just past the half an hour mark they were handed the opportunity to take the lead.

Shortly after Michael Bostwick had fired just wide from a Stevenage free-kick, the Bantams were handed a spot kick when Bullock just beat Byrom to the ball and was brought down.

Evans took responsibility for City's first penalty of the season and made no mistake as he coolly side footed home.

As half time approached, Evans penalty would remain the only differance between the two sides as City held their lead into the interval.

Omar Daley was at the heart of one of the first chances of the second period when the Jamaican picked up Tommy Doherty pass and charged into the box.

His eventually shot though was always rising, however, and flew just over Day's bar from an ever tighting angle.

Daley's opportunity would be one of City's last of the match as Stevenage pushed harder and harder for a way back into the match.

Just minutes after Daley's chance, Stevenage would handed a golden opportunity to draw level.

Duff's attempted back pass was woefully short of Jon McLaughlin, allowing Yemi Odubade a clear run in on goal.

Not for the first time this season though, McLaughlin came City's rescue as he raced out of his goal to quickly block away the striker's effort.

Odubade was nearly through again minutes later, but McLaughlin showed great reactions once more to beat the Stevenage man to a bouncing through ball.

As Taylor tried to arrest City's slide at the start of the second period, Duff and Doherty were replaced by Zesh Rehman and new boy David Syers in quick succession.

But by the time the Bantams boss introduced Louis Moult as City's third substitute with less than a quarter of the match to go, Stevenage were still enjoying the lions share of possession.

While City were clearly not firing in an attacking sense, their defensive unit were on the top of their game.

For all Stevenage's ball retention, McLaughlin had little to do as the visitors chased a way back into the match.

The Bantams keeper was worried for a moment by Peter Winn's header that just dropped over his crossbar, but on the whole City kept doing just enough for victory.

Stevenage were pretty much camped inside the Bantams half as the match entered over time, but City remained strong to hold on for the win.

Not pretty for the Bantams on this occasion, but job done.

Hopefully the first win of many for the Bantams this season.