Wednesday 10 April 2013
Central League Reserve Division
Bradford City 0
at the Coral Windows Stadium
Kick Off: 2.00pm
Gateshead 0
City's reserves played out a goalless draw with their counterparts from Gateshead at a sunny Coral Windows Stadium this Wednesday afternoon.
With the game coming less than twenty-four hours after Phil Parkinson's men had triumphed 4-1 over Bristol Rovers in League 2, City's second-string starting eleven contained as many as eight apprentices and three trialists in it.
The Bantams, who had looked the more attacking of the two sides from the off, came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half when Louie Swain headed against the post after Kyle Harrison had turned Connor Erangey's far post centre back across goal shortly before the half-hour mark.
Scott Brown had earlier been denied by the sprawling frame of Gateshead 'keeper Lewis Sharpe as the midfielder looked to burst through on goal, while Erangey twice forced Sharpe into decent saves with shots from distance.
Gateshead's best moment of the opening period came when Michael Fisher fired narrowly wide from just outside the area. City shot-stopper Stuart Morrison also had to bravely dive at the feet of David Carson to prevent the striker from firing for goal from close range.
After hitting the post in the first half, Swain went close again after the restart when he fired over from a decent position inside Gateshead's area after visiting defender Alex Francis had failed to deal with a searching Erangey cross.
Later in the half, a delightful cross-field ball from Brown gave substitute Nathan Curtis the opportunity to shoot for goal but the striker's low angled drive rolled agonisingly wide of Sharpe's far post.
Moments earlier, Fisher had struck the ball equally as close to City's far post when he fizzed a drive around a yard or so wide from inside the area.
Callum Chippendale, who joined the field for City at the same time as fellow sub Curtis, was denied by a fine tip-over from Sharpe fifteen minutes from the end after the striker had headed for goal following Calum Hepworth's goal.
Sharpe was at it again barely seconds later when he produced an almost carbon-copy save to push a Harrison header over the bar from the resulting corner.
City finished the stronger in their pursuit for victory but they couldn't quite find the winner they needed to secure maximum points.
City team:
Stuart Morrison; Calum Hepworth, Kyle Harrison, Jackson Patillo, Alexander Brisbane; Jae Yun Lee, Scott Brown (c), Jack Stockdill, Connor Erangey; Oliver McBurnie, Louie Swain
Subs: Jack Bentley (GK), Nathan Curtis, Dylan Mottley-Henry, Callum Chippendale, Douglas Stevenson.
Substitutions:
Nathan Curtis for Jae Yun Lee (68), Callum Chippendale for Oliver McBurnie (68), Dylan Mottley-Henry for Jack Stockdill (81)