Saturday 6 February 2010
Coca-Cola League 2
Bradford City 0
Bury 1 (Morrell 52)
Kick Off: 3.00pm
at the Coral Windows Stadium

Attendance: 11,965 (723 vIsitors)

A solitary Andy Morrell goal was enough to send the Bantams crashing to defeat in Stuart McCall's 133rd and possibly last match in charge of Bradford City.

McCall confirmed after the match that he would be discussing his future at the football club with joint-chairman Julian Rhodes on Monday morning.

Should this match have been the City legends last match in charge of his beloved Bantams it may prove somewhat fitting as Saturday's clash with the Shakers seemed to follow the same pattern as so many others this season.

The Bantams once again more than held their own in a match, but once again failed to find enough to get themselves over the finishing line.

Bury arrived at the Coral Windows Stadium with a reputation as one of the league hotshots and rightfully so given their recent impressive run of results and the way they contributed to an closely fought contest.

But as per the reverse fixture between these two sides at Gigg Lane, the Bantams were certainly a match for their Lancashire rivals.

Ultimately though Morrell's second strike at Valley Parade gave Bury six points out of six from their two fixtures against the Bantams and are lying in the upper echelons of the division, while the Bantams languish in 16th place.

McCall had earlier made three changes to the side that started at Torquay United last week as he brought back in James Hanson, Zesh Rehman and Gareth Evans for the trio of Scott Neilson, Chris Brandon and Steve Williams, who all dropped to the bench,

The start of the match seemed to set the pattern for the rest of the afternoon as both sides struggled to make openings and both defences remained on top.

James Hanson forced Bury's Wayne Brown into an early save as the Shakers stopper pushed out a fierce drive from the Bantams young striker.

Bury responded by forcing Matt Glennon into action when he had to be alert to smother the ball away from Stephen Dawson as he burst through the home defence.

As the half wore on, it became clear the match would be just as both managers had predicted - a tight and keenly fought contest.

Each side would have their own mini spell of pressure throughout the first period, but on the whole the match was on an even balance at the half time interval.

Bury broke the deadlock in the match through veteran striker Andy Morrell with less than ten minutes of the second half played.

A clever pass from Stephen Dawson allowed Michael Jones to get in behind the Bantams defence. Matt Glennon did well to block Jones effort, but the ball falls to Morrell, who slammed home despite the best efforts of Simon Ramsden.

The visitors had started the second period stronger and in truth probably deserve their lead.

Bury failed to captalise on taking the lead though as the Bantams gradually grew stronger in the second period.

Just pass the hour mark City were involved in  huge appeals for a penalty. James Hanson rose highest to head a Simon Ramsden corner goalwards. His effort was blocked by Ben Futcher as the City players appealed for handball, but their protests are waved away by Referee Mr Shoebridge.

Minutes later and Stuart McCall replaced Omar Daley with Peter Thorne to give the Bantams some extra fire power as they chased the game. The Jamaican also appeared to be suffered from a knock.

Quickly after Thorne's introduction, McCall was busy again with his substitutes as Steven O'Leary finally his long awaited return to first team action as when he replaced Lee Bullock. Incredibly, It was O'Leary first action with the first team since his Bantams debut back in August.

As City looked to push the issue, Gareth Evans twice benefitted from some clever wing play from two unlikely sources.

Firstly Matthew Clarke did brilliantly on the byline to dig out a cross and find Evans unmarked inside the Bury penalty area. Unfortunately, Evans could only side foot his volley straight at Brown from around ten yards out and the opening was gone.

Rehman did equally as well to beat Tom Newey on the Bantams right wing and send over a dangerous looking low cross. The ball again found Evans, but again he was denied by Brown as his shot was tipped around the post by Bury shot stopper.

With time running out, Luke O'Brien pounced on a loose touch by Brian Barry-Murphy and unleashed a stinging shot, which Wayne Brown did well to tip over.

As the match entered injury time, James Hanson fired over from around the penalty spot as the ball bounced kindly into his path and it appeared the Bantams goose was cooked.

There was still time however for Peter Thorne to miss a golden opportunity to score a late, late equaliser. The ball was flicked into his path at the far post, but the Bantams striker could only nod wide as he aimed for the far post from close distance.