BY RICHARD SUTCLIFFE

Two goals in the final 15 minutes condemned City to defeat in a dour FA Premier Reserve League clash at Blackburn.

Lee Sharpe had given the Bantams the lead midway through the second half with a superbly-taken goal slightly against the run of play.

But Rovers regrouped and hit back through goals from Paul Forsyth and Ben Burgess to deny second-placed City any points.

The first half-hour had been a shocking affair with both sides playing at a pedestrian pace which meant scoring opportunities were at a premium.

City improved slightly with Sharpe and Robbie Blake threatening the Rovers defence while John Dreyer brought a wonderful point-blank save from Alan Miller in the home goal.

The game continued to improve after the break with Burgess going close to giving Rovers the lead on several occasions.

But a smart move down the left by City after 68 minutes opened Blackburn up and allowed Sharpe to coolly chest the ball down before drilling a 15-yard shot past Miller to give the Bantams an unexpected lead.

And they held that until the 77th minute when a 25-yard shot from Forsyth appeared to deceive debutant keeper Ademola Bankole, who had replaced Aidan Davison from the bench on the hour mark.

The on-loan QPR keeper had raised the biggest cheer of the evening when he came on for his debut due to the PA announcing that it was in fact Rovers' goalkeeper Miller being replaced before correcting his glaring error.

But it was Bankole who went on to make the biggest mistake when making a hash of trying to save the ball as it came towards him and it ran through into the net.

It was just the boost that Blackburn needed, and in the 85th minute substitute Marc Richards chipped a lovely ball into the box for Burgess to smash the ball past Bankole to seal the points.

Few impressed for City in such a dour game although Blake looked the most likely to cause Rovers problems while Scott Kerr battled hard in midfield.

City: Davison (Bankole 60), Westwood, Todd, Kerr, Dreyer (Emanuel 54), Wright, Patterson (Fishlock 85), Sharpe, Blake, Hardy.

Blackburn: Miller, Richardson, Murphy, Carsley, Hawe, Broomes, Corbett, McAteer, Burgess, Baldacchino (Richards 70), Forsyth. Subs: (not used) Dunning, Bingham.

Referee: P Canadine (Rotherham).

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