City slip at The Dell

It was a case of New Year but same old story for City as they slipped to their sixth successive defeat on the road in the Premiership.

The Bantams travelled to Southampton knowing that victory would put them firmly in the driving seat in the battle to avoid relegation.

But a woeful first half display was followed by City gifting a goal to in-form striker Kevin Davies 11 minutes after the break.

And although Paul Jewell's men battled hard in search of an equaliser for the rest of an entertaining game, the final whistle saw City's losing run away from home continue.

Some may argue it was another case of 'What if?' for City as they failed to convert a series of second half chances.

But as Barnsley and Charlton have discovered in the past two seasons, hard luck stories will not keep a side up and City must start making their own luck.

At the post-match press conference, Jewell was clearly a frustrated man and bemoaned the manner in which his side had failed to put their heads "in where it hurts" when the scoring chances came along.

It was easy to sympathise with the City boss because with Peter Beagrie in outstanding form on the left, there had been a ready supply of ammunition.

City also won a staggering 11 corners in that second half compared to Saints' paltry four. Home keeper Paul Jones had a nightmare afternoon when trying to deal with these flag-kicks and yet City still failed to grab that elusive goal.

Jones had looked shaky in the first half when completely missing an in-swinging Lee Sharpe corner only for Dean Richards to rescue his keeper with a timely headed clearance. The Saints keeper also had to thank the former City man when he headed Andy O'Brien's overhead kick off the line after Jones had again failed to collect the ball.

Hunger is something which City have possessed in abundance throughout the season and there could be no doubting the commitment they showed to battle back into the game.

But that was certainly not the case in the first half when they were, quite simply, awful. Saints went into the game without a home league win since August 28, yet in the opening 45 minutes City made them look like world beaters.

Admittedly the surface was very wet after three days of rain on the south coast, but conditions were the same for both sides.

City were second to every challenge while their passing game was very poor compared to Saints' incisive use of the ball.

As a result, the City defence came under almost constant pressure and they deserve huge credit for ensuring the score was goalless at half-time. Saints created 13 shots on goal in that first half compared to City's paltry two with Matt Clarke ensuring that the game was not effectively over at the break.

The City goalkeeper pulled off four superb saves to deny the Saints while Jo Tessem also crashed the ball against the crossbar.

Jewell must have ripped into his side during half-time because they came out looking much more determined. Within three minutes of the restart, they had won a trio of corners - the same amount they had forced in the whole of the opening half.

Unfortunately City went behind just as they looked to be gaining the upper hand when an unmarked Davies nodded in Stuart Ripley's free-kick.

Jewell claimed after the game that O'Brien had heard a whistle and thought play had been stopped, which allowed Davies to nip in and score.

But what O'Brien heard was referee David Elleray whistling for the free-kick to be taken - a split-second before Ripley delivered the inviting ball into the six-yard area.

Saints should have doubled that lead within a minute only for Marian Pahars to hit a post, but from thereon in it was City who were in control.

It was a surprise to see Robbie Blake on the bench considering the torrid time he has given Richards during City's last three games against Wolves.

But his arrival after 57 minutes breathed life into City's front-line as Jewell opted for a three-man attack.

Blake's skill will always cause problems for opposition defences and so it proved again against the Saints.

His trickery on the ball proves a useful contrast to Mills' physical presence and the pair combined within minutes of Blake's arrival to create a chance for Saunders which brought the best out of Jones.

The favour was then returned in the 74th minute when Blake was allowed to skip through the puddles and thunder a fierce shot which seemed destined for the net only for Jones to reach the ball.

It duly bounced to Saunders but it was a sharp chance and the ball flew well over the crossbar.

City continued to battle hard in the closing stages with Wetherall playing up front, but it was all to no avail as they slipped into the bottom three for the first time in two months.

Referee Elleray deserves a lot of credit for the intelligent way he ran the game because despite some fierce challenges in the wet conditions, no yellow cards were shown.

That helped to contribute to an entertaining game - although that will mean nothing to City today as they look back on another Premiership defeat.

On the balance of play over the 90 minutes, Saints just about deserved the points because of the number of chances they created. But walking away from the Dell after the final whistle, it was again hard not to look back on yet another City away game while muttering 'If only'.

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