The boys Don good!

City are threatening to finish the campaign nearly as well as they started it. But that's scant consolation for the club's leading marksman.

Jess bagged his 14th goal on Saturday to help the Bantams finally rubbish any lingering fears of more sleepless nights worrying about the relegation scene.

The Scot's effort, his first for six games, flew in off his left ear as City cocked a deaf 'un to Wimbledon's ridiculous claims of a play-off place.

But Jess is more concerned that his own team will finish nowhere near the end-of-season lottery for a Premiership ticket. He said: "It was a good performance and we came away with the win and with safety, which is the main thing. Now it's just a matter of

finishing strongly and getting some respectability.

"But we've let ourselves down this year. There was a great expectation put upon us, not just by others but by the players themselves, and people were looking at the likes of Coventry, Man City and us to do well.

"With the players we've got we were looking to bounce straight back up or get in the play-offs at least and we haven't done that, we've all under-achieved.

"We got off to a flying start and were knocking in four or five against teams but then somewhere in the middle of the season it just went a bit wrong. That's what really let us down.

"We've played well in the last five or six games and picked up points which we definitely needed to get away from the relegation zone. But it's just a little bit late."

It was impossible to separate the relegation battlers from the promotion outsiders at Selhurst Park. Wimbledon's play-offs claims were made to look as flimsy as Norwich - and this time there was no sucker punch, despite the finest efforts of renowned referee Rob Styles.

The Waterlooville whistle-blower amazed the Bantams by awarding a ridiculous penalty in the closing seconds against Wayne Jacobs. It was such an innocuous offence that most of the crowd - a bulging 5,500 - were totally non-plussed. The majority verdict was for handball but apparently it was a tug from City's left back that attracted the attention of the Styles police.

Luckily David Connolly's spot-kick meant nothing in the context of the game, apart from costing Alan Combe a few quid for his clean sheet bonus. No wonder the keeper talked himself into the sixth yellow card of the afternoon.

Boss Nicky Law, never the best friend of our officials, spent the second half in the seats behind the City bench after being banished for querying some of Styles' first-half decisions.

And that was before the penalty and the elbow incident when he let off Darren Holloway scot-free for a forearm smash on Lewis Emanuel.

The City youngster had a bruise in the face as a souvenir for his hard work and he nearly had a first senior goal.

Emanuel was thrown into a left midfield role to give Jacobs extra protection in nullifying the speed of Jobi McAnuff. The Wimbledon winger lasted only nine minutes before limping away but in that time watched as his marker came close to getting on the scoresheet.

Jacobs' free-kick fell invitingly for the England under-19 player 12 yards from goal. Emanuel hit it well enough but Kelvin Davis made a superb reflex block and then got up to poach the rebound header from Mark Bower.

City refused to allow the home side to settle and Wimbledon's heavy-legged first half betrayed the effort of playing a fourth game in eight days. They had top scorer Connolly back from a four-game suspension but he was well shackled by the typically-tight David Wetherall and Bower combination.

The Bantams certainly ruled the roost in midfield where the young and old terriers, Stuart McCall and Tom Kearney, snapped away at anything in a blue shirt. Appropriately, both players were involved in the build-up to the goals.

It took half an hour for City to turn possession into something more solid as Danny Cadamarteri, who buzzed about all over, curled in the perfect cross for Jess to turn past Davis with his left lobe.

That sparked some kind of response from the home side and their small band of supporters. You'd have thought that three wins on the trot would put a spring in their step but it was only when City took the lead that Wimbledon started to shake from their slumbers.

That old warhorse Neil Shipperley shot against the top of the bar and Combe saved well from Connolly but the Bantams back four are no push-overs any more. In the five games since Wetherall returned, it is no coincidence they have only conceded three goals.

With City maintaining the high tempo, Wimbledon were struggling to keep up and predictably resorted to the tried and tested method of bombarding the box with high balls. Bower and Wetherall just gobbled them up.

The visitors didn't have Law to bellow tactics at them for the second half but the instructions had been taken in and while Wimbledon enjoyed 15 minutes of early pressure there was never a clear sight of goal.

Only Neil Ardley threatened to unlock City's left side but with the centre-halves so confident at dealing with his crosses, Shipperley and Connolly had to rely on the scraps.

The Dons' frustration was compounded with City's second goal midway through the half.

Jess' first corner nearly produced a goal off Holloway, the ball brushing off the full back's head and flying agonisingly across the danger zone. But from the second there was no let-off.

This time it was played short to McCall who touched it on to Kearney. As the Dons pushed out for offside, the former Everton rookie timed his ball over the top perfectly.

It landed at the feet of Bower, who was enjoying as much room as the fans in the far stand, and the young centre-half knocked it nonchalantly past Davis. Two goals in seven games, not a bad ratio for a centre-half.

Wimbledon were forced to go gung-ho and as gaps opened up there could have been more. Cadamarteri's persistence deserved one and he was just off target from outside the box.

The last goal arrived in added time at the wrong end, courtesy of Mr Styles' generosity, but the final whistle immediately followed and City could celebrate their first win in London for three years. If only it had happened a few months ago.