City spot on to snatch victory

When Peter Beagrie sealed what could prove to be a vital three points with the winning goal just three minutes from time, the reaction of Bradford City chairman Geoffrey Richmond said it all.

The Bantams had seen their attempts to play flowing football frustrated by a real gluepot of a pitch which was threatening to prevent second placed City taking advantage of their game in hand on most of the top six in the First Division.

Palace had gone in front after 56 minutes when David Tuttle's effort was adjudged to have crossed the line, so when Ashley Westwood brought the scores level with 15 minutes remaining, the relief was evident all around Valley Parade.

But this was nothing compared to the explosion of joy which met referee Bill Burns' decision to award City a penalty after substitute Isaiah Rankin had gone down under a challenge from Palace goalkeeper Kevin Miller.

Normal etiquette in directors' boxes around the country dictates that mild applause is the accepted way of celebrating a goal.

But when Burns' pointed to the spot, Richmond immediately jumped to his feet. And then, when Beagrie slammed the resulting spot-kick into the net, the City chief jumped up and punched the air before dancing a little jig of celebration.

It was a clear illustration of just how important this victory was to City's season as they look to end a 77-year wait for a return to the top flight of English football.

The result pushed City four-points clear of third placed Bolton Wanderers and, more importantly, it kept the promotion bandwagon rolling, as it was their eighth victory in the last nine league and cup games.

Not for the first time, City had not played well and yet still managed to claim all three points - a quality that every promotion hunting side needs.

And with the Valley Parade pitch in such a poor state this winter, this could prove a very important factor as the promotion race hots up.

The heavy surface, which had started to cut up badly as early as the pre-match warm-up, suited Palace's more direct style of play with the City players finding it nearly impossible to dribble the ball further than five yards before losing control.

This meant the threat from tricky players such as Robbie Blake and Peter Beagrie, normally so fruitful to City, was negated for long periods and eventually the Bantams were forced to get the ball forward as quickly as possible.

Despite this handicap, they again showed their fighting spirit with some fearsome challenges to more than match a very physical Palace side.

It was another battling display of teamwork although Jamie Lawrence was quite comfortably City's best player.

Whether using his pace to leave the Palace defence struggling to keep up in the mud or racing back to help out the defence with a crunching tackle, Lawrence proved his worth time and time again last night.

Even when he was moved to right back as Paul Jewell went for all-out attack by replacing a defender with a striker with the arrival of Rankin for Stephen Wright, he adapted admirably to the role to snuff out any potential danger.

Westwood also had another fine game in the centre of the City defence which was rewarded with his first goal since moving to Valley Parade during the summer.

That strike helped pave the way for Beagrie's all-important clincher to set City up for the trip to Newcastle United as they look to carry their league form into the FA Cup.

Magpies boss Ruud Gullit was at Valley Parade with his assistant Steve Clarke although it is doubtful as to what they may have learned from a game played on such a strength-sapping surface.

The pair had left before City grabbed both their late goals so will probably be mystified as to how Palace managed to lose this game.

However that late double means City now travel to St James' Park, and more importantly a perfect playing surface, even more confident of pulling off a cup shock.

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