Wednesday 10 February 2010
totesport.com League East
Scunthorpe United 1 (Wright pen 49)
Bradford City 2 (R Boulding 17, Osborne 57)
Kick Off: 2.00pm
at Glanford Park

Skipper for the day Steven O'Leary continued on his road to full fitness at Glanford Park this Wednesday as the Bantams registered their first win in the totesport.com League East this season.

O'Leary managed to grab 67 minutes under his belt during an assured and energetic performance against Scunthorpe's reserves.

Goals from Rory Boulding and Leon Osborne ultimately handed City that prized first three points of the campaign, but it was the overall composed performance from the men in black which will have pleased the watching Wayne Jacobs and Mark Lawn.

Iron defender Andrew Wright had briefly equalised for his side when he converted a second half penalty, but Bradford fully merited their rewards.

The match had been in some doubt before kick off due to snow fall and freezing conditions overnight.

A light covering of snow still remained within one of the goal areas by kick off, but the pitch was deemed playable nonetheless.

O'Leary was joined in the line up by defenders Steve Williams and Jonathan Bateson.

In the bitterly cold conditions, it was the Bantams who were to first to produce a shot in anger.

Luke Sharry's fierce low drive from the edge of the area had Josh Lillis scrambling across his goal. Fortunately for the Iron keeper, Sharry's shot flashed just wide of his far post and slammed hard against the sponsor boards behind.

Scunthorpe's Jack Cross went just as close from a similar position moments later, as both sides probed for the early breakthrough.

The Bantams nearly had such a breakthrough with only seven minutes on the clock as Rory Carson went close.

A driving run by Leon Osborne at a backtracking home defence allowed the City winger to slip Carson into space in the area.

The Irish midfielder had time to pick his spot, but could only find Lillis mid-drift and the chance was gone.

City were looking assured at this point, with skipper O'Leary controlling proceedings in the midfield and their forward players looking dangerous.

The Bantams got the goal their early play had deserved in the 17th minute thanks to brilliant work from Darren Stephenson.

The young apprentice, who had shown good promise during his last reserve appearance against Rotherham two weeks ago, left Andrew Wright for dust with a clever step over and driving run.

Stephenson completed his good work by fizzing across a teasing ball that left Rory Boulding with the easy task of sidefooting home from point blank range on the volley.

As a light snow shower hit Glanford Park not for the first time in the afternoon, it was the Bantams who continued to look the more composed of the two sides.

Despite their dominance of possession, the Bantams were nearly caught short when Carson delayed at a throw in.

As the Bradford midfielder looked to receive the ball just beyond the half way line, Cross nipped and beat the napping Carson to it before setting off into the Bantams half on the counter-attack.

Louis Horne was luckily on hand as the Bantams last man and denied the Scunthorpe youngster with a well timed tackle as he approached the Bradford penalty area.

The sleet continued to fall as half time approached. On the verge of the interval, Sharry was booked for a dangerous looking slide tackle on Jake Picton.

Thankfully the sleet showers were replaced by winter sunshine as the second half commenced.

City suffered the worst possible start to the second period as Sharry was adjudged to have bundled over Adam Boyes in the area less than four minutes into the half.

Wright took the resulting spot-kick and sent Jon McLaughlin the wrong way to level the scores.

Barely five minutes had passed before City squandered a promising opportunity to retake the lead.

A neat pass from Boulding played in Stephenson as the home side appealed for offside.

The young forward had slightly more time than he thought and he could only fire over from inside the area.

If Stephenson's miss was a warning sign, the Iron didn't heed it as moments later Osborne superbly placed the Bantams back into the lead.

From distance, the Bradford winger drove with menace through Scunthorpe's defences and into the penalty area.

The presence of Picton forced Osborne slightly away from goal, but he still managed to beat Lillis with an angled drive into the bottom corner.

Bradford nearly had another special goal to add to their afternoon's collection when Sharry teed up Carson on the edge of the Scunthorpe area.

Carson's fierce volley was dipping into the top corner before Lillis got the merest fingertips to the effort to tip it onto the crossbar and over.

Moments later and McLaughlin had to be just as alert at the other end to stop Scunthorpe levelling up matters once more.

Up for a set-piece, Iron defender Picton forced McLaughlin into a smart reaction save when he snatched at a loose ball on the turn.

In the 67th minute, O'Leary's work for the afternoon was finished as he was substituted for apprentice Dominic Rowe. The decision to remove O'Leary from the action looked purely precautionary as the midfielder had seemed at ease during the match.

Steve Williams took over the captaincy following O'Leary's departure.

Following his earlier impressive save from Picton, McLaughlin was given another chance to impress when Boyes burst through the middle of City's defence.

The effort from the Scunthorpe youngster was heading for the bottom corner until City's shot-stopper thrust out a strong left hand to push the strike away.

Bright work from sub Rowe handed Boulding an opening to double his account and his side's lead.

Osborne's over hit pass appeared to be heading out until the pace of Rowe allowed him to rescue the situation.

A neat trick by the byline got him pass Sam Comer as the diminuntive winger played the ball across to Boulding, who couldn't make the most of the opportunity as he scuffed his shot.

As the match headed into the final ten minutes, McLaughlin found himself having to deny Picton for the second time in the afternoon.

On a rare trip forward, the Iron defender was picked out by Ben May, but the City stopper was out quickly to block his effort.

City's forward line was freshened up as the hard-working Stephenson was replaced by Oliver Forsyth, who currently tops the goal scoring charts for City's youth team.

The Bantams bench was busy again moments later, but this time to appeal for a possible handball.

Boulding beat Lillis to a probing long through ball from Sharry, as the Scunthorpe keeper raced from his penalty area.

As Boulding flicked the ball past Lillis, it appeared to be knocked away by the Iron stopper's gloves, but referee Mr S J Ross was unmoved.

City survived a few nervous moments thereafter in the matches closing stages, but managed to hang on for that priceless first win.

SCUNTHORPE UNITED	BRADFORD CITY
1 Josh Lillis	1 Jon McLaughlin
2 Andrew Wright	2 Jonathan Bateson
3 Sam Comer	3 Andrew Villermann
4 Niall Canavan	4 Steven O'Leary
5 Kenny Milne	5 Steve Williams
6 Jake Picton	6 Louis Horne
7 Adam Boyes	7 Luke Sharry
8 Joe Maguire	8 Rory Carson
9 Ben May	9 Darren Stephenson
10 Jack Cross	10 Rory Boulding
11 Marcus Gibbs	11 Leon Osborne
Substitutes:	Substitutes:
12 Richard Dean for 10 (86)	12 Oliver Forsyth for 9 (83)
13 Jonathan Williams	13 Matthew Convey
14 Ashley Palmer for 2 (61)	14 Dominic Rowe for 4 (67)
16 Aaron Wint for 5 (46)	15 Adam Robinson
18 Sam Slocombe

MATCH OFFICIALS:
Referee	S J Ross
Assistant Referee	R H Smith
Assistant Referee	J W Thornhill
Fourth Official

GOALSCORERS:
SCUNTHORPE UNITED	BRADFORD CITY
Wright pen (49)	R Boulding (17)
	Osborne (57)