City come out fighting

After only five days of training with his new club, Dave Jones didn't feel the former England tough guy was ready for Valley Parade. His shirt was hung on a peg in the away dressing-room but there was nobody wearing it.

Perhaps Ince had got wind of the welcome he was likely to receive - and just didn't fancy it.

The self-proclaimed Guv'nor would have had to go some to turf City off the manner. Yesterday of all days, the Bantams were not in the mood to flinch for an inch.

This was payback time from the team that aren't getting paid. Three months - or is it years - of pent-up frustration exploded in 90 minutes of sheer guts.

New chairman Gordon Gibb, younger than seven of the 11 players, looked chuffed to bits with the team he has finally inherited from the Richmond regime. He had every right to be proud as they matched a Wolves side once again being tipped to throw away the bridesmaid's costumes and finally make it to the Premiership alter.

Then again what do the so-called experts know? Aren't most of them banking on City getting relegated.

Fat chance of that if the Bantams can summon up the passion and phenomenal work-rate that carried them through day one. It won't always be like this, of course, but City were entitled to milk every drop of the applause for their season-opening efforts.

"We would have taken a point before the game," said Tom Kearney, who ruled the Ince-less midfield battlezone. "The odds were stacked against us with everyone saying that Wolves were going to walk it. But we stuck together and did well and I felt we deserved the result."

Midfield threes won't come much tougher this season than Kearney, Jamie Lawrence and new boy Paul Evans. It is not an area of the team for the faint-hearted - one crunching challenge from Evans on Colin Cameron could have been heard in Leeds.

Evans, who has pledged his allegiance to the Bantams until 2006, drew some admiration from Stuart McCall, whose place he has taken. The Legend, now at Sheffield United, was in the Sunwin Stand supposedly doing his homework on two future opponents - but he was willing on his former team-mates as much as any fan.

Evans was not the only new face to catch the eye. Andy Gray and Gus Uhlenbeek both came to the fore, shuttling up and down the right flank with former Leeds and Forest winger Gray supplying the best chance of a Bantams strike.

The game was barely a couple of minutes old when Gray weaved one way then the other to elude full back Lee Naylor and reach the byline. The cross was perfect, deep to the far post and invitingly arrowed on to the head

of Ashley Ward, whose effort was hooked away from just in front the line by Paul Butler.

Ward scored twice against Barnsley on day one of last season and tried everything to repeat the act. Unfortunately there was definitely a flashback in another area as referee Colin Webster showed that refereeing standards had clearly not improved.

The Durham official brandished his yellow card seven times - testing Nicky Law's new-year resolution not to get involved to breaking point.

One incident summed up Webster's woes when David Wetherall became the first of three City players to go in his notebook.

Wethers hardly put a foot wrong in his first game as skipper, oozing a calm authority in the centre of defence alongside the equally cucumber-cool Andy Myers.

But the captain's patience threatened to snap when Nathan Blake tried to con a penalty after 15 minutes. As Wetherall made a clean sliding tackle, Blake flipped forward theatrically into the box.

Webster was unimpressed - Wetherall incensed and quick to make his point to the Wolves fall guy. The ref stepped in to stop the feud and decided the best answer was to book BOTH men.

"We all know David Wetherall and that's not David Wetherall to get booked for dissent," said a lip-biting Law afterwards. "He said at half-time he never said anything to the ref.

"Thankfully it was a live game on the telly and everybody else can see for themselves that the situation was so unfair."

The official's action stoked up the heat even more as the game really bubbled into life. Kearney and Joleon Lescott compressed foreheads like rutting stags before Wolves conjured the best chance of the lot. Cameron fired Denis Irwin's cross towards the bottom left corner of Gary Walsh's goal - only to hold his head in despair as the City stopper flung himself across to block.

The danger was not over as the rebound pinged out against Alex Rae, who watched as helplessly as the prone Walsh as the loose ball trickled the wrong side of the post.

Walsh, playing his first full game since December, deserved that break.

The only summer transfer story had seemed to be the "will he, won't he" saga surrounding last season's loan star Alan Combe. But Walsh showed his agility had not been dimmed by such a long injury absence.

Michael Oakes in the other goal leapt to tip away a curling free-kick by Evans before Walsh saved City's bacon once more with an even better reflex effort to keep out a rasping close-range volley by Kenny Miller.

But he saved the best until last. With only four minutes to go, George Ndah looked more like Dwayne Chambers as he motored clear of Wetherall on the end of Nathan Blake's pass.

As the substitute bore down on goal only Walsh stood in his way.

But that was enough for the anxious home fans as the keeper's outstretched right leg diverted the shot away.

It was a man-of-the-match effort from a keeper who has been dogged by bad luck.

The sponsors gave their individual award to Myers - but really on an afternoon like this, everyone in a Claret and Amber jersey deserved a hearty slap on the back.