Tuesday 30 September 2008
totesport.com League East
Bradford City 2 (Sharry 23, Topp 29)
Barnsley 3 (Bennett 27, 39 Fernehough 77)
Kick Off: 7.00pm
at the Coral Windows Stadium

Bradford City's reserves went down by 3 goals to 2 at the hands of their counterparts from Barnsley at the Coral Windows Stadium.

Despite taking the lead twice through Luke Sharry and Willy Topp, Barnsley bounced back on each occasion to secure the points with a hard fought victory.

Despite the persistant rain earlier in the day, the game got under way in dry and settled conditions. The match started as even contest , with scoring opportunities coming few and fair between for both sides, any chances created were being easily dealt with by both keepers.

The Bantams did create a promised opening in the 19th minute of the game. Good interplay between Willy Topp and Louis Horne saw Horne in with a shooting opportunity, unfortunately he couldn't keep his shot on target to trouble Barnsley keeper, Letheren as it went past his near post.

Bradford did however take the lead in the 23rd minute through midfielder Luke Sharry. Sharry appeared to be going nowhere while being hounded by two Barnsley players, but a clever turn by Sharry helped him create enough space to get a shot on goal, which via a slight deflection, beat Tykes' keeper Letheren.

City nearly doubled their lead a minute later when Rory Boulding produced a fierce drive from the edge of the area, which Welshman Letheren did well to tip away.

The Bantams lead didn't last long as Barnsley drew level soon after via a deflection of their own. Barnsley winger Alistair Taylor managed to get his cross away and Steven Bennett was there to wrongfoot McLaughlin via a deflection off a Bantams defender to draw Barnsley level.

In a hectic period in the game, Bradford again recaptured the lead thanks to a moment of sheer magic through Willy Topp. Bantams winger Leon Osborne whipped in an inviting cross and Chilean Topp produced a superb overhead kick to beat Letheren and regain the lead again for his side.

However in the 39th minute, back came Barnsley to score a second equaliser of the game, again through Steven Bennett. Played in by strike partner Warburton, Bennett created himself a yard of space and cooly slotted home past McLaughlin to restore parity.

As the second half got under way, it was Bradford looking to push on and retake the lead for a third time. Luke O'Brien worked tirelessly down the left hand side to create a chance for Willy Topp, but Topp's shot was straight at Letheren and the Barnsley keeper gathered easily.

In the 58th minute central defender Mark Bower was replaced by youngster Jonjo O'Hara, with left back Luke O'Brien taking over captain duties.

Half way through the second half, Barnsley created a decent opportunity of their own to take the lead for the first time in the match through midfielder Jacob Butterfield. Bradford born Butterfield skipped past two challenges before fired a shot from the edge of the area that just few past McLaughlin's far post.

In the 74th minute Sean Taylforth and Leon Osborne linked up well together down the left hand side, with Osborne drawing a foul from Barnsley full back Van Homoet. From the resulting free kick, Osborne played the ball short to Luke Sharry, unluckily for the Bradford youngster his shot flew well wide.

Three minutes later Barnsley took the lead for the first time in the match. Steven Bennett managed to get enough space to play the ball across to substitute Danny Fernehough, who slotted home past McLaughlin from just inside the area.

In the closing stages of the game Sean Taylforth had to receive treatment after being on the receiving end of a hasty challenge by Barnsley full back Marciano Van Homoet. The Dutchman receiving a left card for the incident, luckily for Taylforth he carried on without problems after the brief treatment.

As the game drew to a close, Bradford struggled to create any real scoring chances to get themselves back into the game and Barnsley hung on to secure their first win of the season in the totesport.com League East division.

BRADFORD CITY	BARNSLEY
1 Jon McLaughlin	1 Kyle Letheren
2 Simon Ainge	2 Marciano Van Homoet
3 Luke O'Brien	3 Tom Mellor
4 Luke Sharry	4 Connor Branson
5 Phil Cutler	5 Luke Potter
6 Mark Bower	6 Jacob Butterfield
7 Leon Osborne	7 Alistair Taylor
8 Louis Horne	8 Tyrone Crapper
9 Rory Boulding	9 Steven Bennett
10 Willy Topp	10 Danny Warburton
11 Sean Taylforth	11 Mounir El Haimour
Substitutes:	Substitutes:
12 Kelvin Bleau	12 Liam Reffin
14 Ryan Harrison	14 Danny Fernehough for 7 (58)
15 Luke Dean for 8 (61)	15 Jack Watts
16 Jonjo O'Hara for 6 (58)	16 Martin Grundy
17 Roy Fogarty for 10 (70)	22 Danny Free

MATCH OFFICIALS:
Referee:	B Khatib
Assistant Referee:	A Foster
Assistant Referee:	A R Tankard
4th Official:	E J Simms

GOALSCORERS:
BRADFORD CITY	BARNSLEY
Sharry 23	Bennett 27, 39
Topp 29	Fernehough 77