Bradford City 2, Grimsby Town 1; by Richard Sutcliffe, at Valley Parade.

It may have taken more than 70 minutes to slip into top gear, but this encounter between two of the First Division's form sides developed into the type of thrilling clash for which the FA Cup has become renowned.

Bradford City had taken a deserved 2-0 lead through quality strikes from Lee Mills and Jamie Lawrence and seemed set for a comfortable victory in what, at that stage, could only be described as an average game.

However Grimsby boss Alan Buckley threw caution to the wind by bringing on substitute Kingsley Black, City's tormentor when the two sides met at Blundell Park in October, and changing his side's rigid 4-4-2 formation in the 71st minute.

And all of a sudden, the crowd of 13,870 crowd were treated to a real 'blood and guts' Cup tie which had everyone sat on their seat until the very end.

Grimsby managed to halve City's lead with just 12 minutes remaining when John McDermott crashed a 20-yard shot past Gary Walsh to inject some excitement into the closing stages.

Three minutes later, the Bantams were down to ten men following the dismissal of Andy O'Brien and Grimsby used their numerical advantage to lay siege to the City goal.

However the Bantams showed yet again just how strong their spirit is with substitute Ashley Westwood slotting into the defence well alongside Darren Moore to play his part in a tremendous rearguard action which also saw skipper Stuart McCall preventing Town striker Jack Lester having a kick.

It was the sort of display which City are becoming increasingly renowned for and it is a tribute to this battling spirit that Grimsby, despite being camped in the Bantams half, could muster only a couple of long range efforts which failed to trouble Gary Walsh.

As impressive as McDermott's strike was, it was the sending off of Andy O'Brien which changed this game.

Booked in the first half for tugging the shirt of Lester when the unpunished Grimsby man was equally guilty of the offence, O'Brien was sent off for exactly the same crime against the same player.

And yet again, it was Lester who could be considered just as guilty only for referee Tony Bates to pick out the teenager and send him off.

The decision followed a superb tackle by O'Brien so if the offence really was for holding, why was the free kick taken from the position of the tackle and not where the alleged offence took place?

However this should not detract from another battling display from the Bantams which culminated in another two fine goals.

Lee Mills struck in the 29th minute with a superb goal worthy of being City's 400th in the FA Cup when he expertly turned Peter Handyside before drilling a low drive past former City goalkeeper Aidan Davison.

It was a fitting reward for another top class display from Mills as he not only led the line very well, he also proved his worth in defence with some crucial headed clearances when Grimsby threatened.

Mills was City's most impressive player although midfielder Gareth Whalley ran him close with another battling display in midfield which married intelligent passes with a solid tackling game.

Alongside Whalley, McCall was again in fine form with a number of very important tackles helping preserve his side's lead.

The Bantams defence also deserve special credit for restricting Grimsby, who are only three points behind the Bantams in the First Division table, to long range efforts for most of the game.

All the back four played well although Darren Moore was particularly impressive with his aerial presence preventing Grimsby taking advantage of the large number of high balls which were pumped into the box.

Mills went very close to doubling City's lead before Jamie Lawrence struck with another fine individual effort which saw him run from his own half before drilling a left foot shot into the net.

And despite the late scare caused by McDermott's goal and O'Brien's dismissal, it was Paul Jewell's side who were celebrating after a ludicrously high five minutes of stoppage time at being in the draw for the fourth round.

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