Bradford City 2 Chester City 1

Nov 7 2007 by David Triggs, Chester Chronicle

THE Blues lost their proud unbeaten away record in League Two last night but they did not go down without a fight.

Trailing 1-0 at the break, the visitors dominated the second half and were unlucky not to come away with at least a point.

Chester started well and went close on a couple of occasions in the first 15 minutes. John Murphy deflected a Paul Linwood shot just wide from six yards and, soon after, Mark Hughes flashed a 20-yard volley narrowly off target.

Bradford had the opportunity to snatch the lead in the 17th minute when Tony Dinning felled Eddie Johnson in the penalty area. But Nicky Law’s spot-kick lacked direction and City keeper John Danby pushed the ball to safety.

Nine minutes before the break, Bradford took the lead through Omar Daley. The striker crashed a stunning drive past Danby from the corner of the area, but Chester boss Bobby Williamson was furious with referee Andy Hall for missing a clear foul on full-back Laurence Wilson earlier in the move.

The Blues should have drawn level two minutes into the second half when Kevin Ellison won a penalty after being fouled by two Bradford defenders as he jumped for a header on the edge of the box. Dinning stepped up to take the kick, but he was denied by a superb one-handed save from Donovan Ricketts.

Chester went on to dominate possession for the remainder of the half but they were undone by a breakaway goal two minutes from time. Bradford sub Alex Rhodes sprinted down the touchline and appeared to take the ball out of play before running into the box and firing a low shot into the far corner of Danby’s net.

Although Ellison pulled a goal back with an injury-time header, it was not enough to prevent Chester from falling to their first away defeat in the league all season.

After the match, Blues boss Williamson revealed that key players Murphy and Richie Partridge had been taken off because they had picked up injuries – meaning they could miss the return trip to Bradford in the FA Cup this Saturday.

Bradford City: Ricketts, Williams, Wetherall, Clarke, Heckingbottom, Daley, Paul Evans (Rhodes 69), Law , Nix (Bower 90), Johnson, Thorne (Ndumbu-Nsungu 76). Subs: Saynor, Conlon.

Booked: Paul Evans, Nix.

Goals: Daley 36, Rhodes 88.

Chester: Danby, Marples, Dinning, Butler, Wilson, Partridge (Rutherford 18), Hughes, Linwood, Ellison, Murphy (Roberts 46), Holroyd (Yeo 78). Subs: Palethorpe, Lowndes.

Booked: Hughes, Holroyd, Butler, Marples.

Goals: Ellison 90.

Attendance: 13,211.

Referee: Andy Hall (W Midlands).