Bradford City cemented second place in the FA Premier Reserve League with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at a sodden Valley Parade last night.

The Bantams sealed their tenth victory of the season with goals from John Dreyer and Lee Mills to move within five points of leaders Liverpool.

City also moved five points clear of third-placed Sunderland with a performance which was a huge improvement on last week's 4-0 drubbing at Liverpool.

The match was played in driving rain which left the Valley Parade pitch in an atrocious condition by the final whistle.

City took the lead after just two minutes when a corner from the left was swept into the net by Dreyer on the half-volley.

It was the perfect start for the Bantams after last week's disappointment at Liverpool and they nearly doubled that lead after 11 minutes when Neil Redfearn's long-distance shot flew just over the top.

But Wednesday gradually fought their way back into the game. After Lee Briscoe struck a post they finally found a way past goalkeeper Danny Taylor.

Danny Sonner started the move with a fine run down the left before sending over a low centre which Matthew Hamshaw swept into the empty net.

City were not to be held though, and after Gareth Grant hit the post Lee Sharpe produced a wonderful piece of skill to set up the winning goal.

The City wide man collected the ball on the left and after looking up he curled an exquisite cross over a defender into the path of Mills.

The City striker rounded off the fine 60th minute move with a firm volleyed finish to beat Kevin Pressman.

Taylor then produced a wonderful save to deny Richard Cresswell's point-blank header after 77 minutes to seal all three points.

Both sides provided some fine entertainment for the crowd which braved the wet and cold conditions although the 90 minutes were marred by the performance of referee John Devine.

Despite there not being a bad challenge all night, the Middlesbrough official managed to book six players for a variety of very minor offences.

Lee Todd, Robbie Blake, Gareth Grant and John Dreyer all received yellow cards while Wednesday could feel equally hard done by for the cards shown to Hamshaw and full back Derek Geary.

City: Taylor, Wright, Todd, Dreyer, Bower (Kerr 45), Sharpe, Fishlock, Redfearn, Grant (Patterson 88), Blake, Mills.

Wednesday: Pressman, Geary, Nicholson (Morrison 67), Billington, Staniforth, Hutton, Hamshaw, Holmes, Cresswell, Sonner, Briscoe.

Attendance: 726.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.