Yesterday (Monday), we revealed number 3 in the countdown from 10 to 1 of the list of best City victories from throughout the 2014-15 season. Number 3 was of course the 2-0 victory against Sunderland at the Coral Windows Stadium to send City into the FA Cup Quarter-Finals; in front of a packed stadium, an own goal by John O’Shea, and a killer second by Jon Stead wrapped up the victory. At 2, it’s the come from behind Capital One Cup 2ndround victory against Leeds United.
Bradford City2 (Knott 84, Hanson 86)
Leeds United1 (Smith 82)
27/08/14 – The Coral Windows Stadium
Bradford City fans waited eagerly for this one to come round, having seen the draw pair the Bantams with their rivals from down the road, Leeds United. Historically, United have more often than not, got the better of City but there was certainly an air of excitement at the prospect of an opportunity to pounce on a side struggling for form under head coach David Hockaday.
As expected, the away end was full to the brim, but the home crowd were noisy and more than willing to pull their side to victory. Leeds’ Luke Murphy was given his marching orders in the first half for a second bookable offence, following a clumsy challenge on James Meredith, and then it was certainly City who pushed for the victory the more out of the two teams.
Against the run of play, Matt Smith powered a header past Ben Williams, after latching onto David Norris’ cross to send the visitors into rapturous celebration; after all there was only 8 minutes of the 90 left on the clock.
Despite time ticking away, City responded immediately. After Billy Clarke forced Stuart Taylor into a smart save, from the resulting corner, the equaliser was found. The corner was headed out as far as Billy Knott, who controlled superbly before slamming a shot into the roof of the net from the edge of the area.
There was barely time to sit back down again, when James Hanson scored the winner. Gary Liddle curled a delightful cross into the area, and Hanson stooped to guide a header through the legs of Taylor, and into the back of the net for a memorable victory.
Starting XI:
Williams, Darby ©, McArdle, Sheehan, Meredith, Liddle, Kennedy, Knott (Dolan 90+7), Clarke, Hanson, Mclean (McBurnie 70)
Unused Subs:
Urwin, Routis, Shariff, Yeates, Morais
Bookings:Clarke
18,750 (3,828 Leeds fans)Attendance:
Parkinson’s Reaction:
‘Without doubt this is a big moment, we knew what this meant to the people of Bradford tonight and we said that to the lads before we went out there.’
‘We knew how we wanted to play but it was very important to come off the pitch knowing we’d given everything, and created a little bit of history.’
‘We knew we’d not beaten Leeds at Valley Parade for over 80 years.’
‘Those fans have gone away tonight knowing we did everything to make that happen for them.’
Click play on the YouTube video below to watch highlights of the 2-1 victory against Leeds United
Tomorrow (Wednesday), we will bring you, what in our opinion, is the best win of the 2014-15.