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

The chant may have only lasted for a few moments during this entertaining clash between two promotion hopefuls, but it spoke volumes for Bradford City as 1999 approaches.

Lee Mills had just smashed the second goal of the afternoon past Wolves goalkeeper Mike Stowell when the City fans rose to deliver a chorus of 'Going Up'.

The Bradford sporting public are often labelled a pessimistic breed, so for the crowd to illustrate the belief they now have in their team was a special moment.

Mills' 14th strike of the season and the opener from the outstanding Robbie Blake eventually proved enough to seal the points and move City up to third position.

However it was the manner of the performance which was so pleasing and no doubt a huge factor in the City fans decision to shout about their side's promotion chances.

Recent months have shown that few sides can handle City's array of attacking options. Whether it be the strike pairing of Blake and Mills or the midfield trickery of Gareth Whalley and Peter Beagrie, there can be no questioning City's pedigree going forward.

This display was merely a continuation of the fine performance which swept Swindon aside the previous week and as with that game, it was the front pairing of Mills and Blake who caught the eye.

Mills was again in fine form with his ability to hold the ball and find a colleague causing constant problems for his former club. In fact, several members of the visiting Press corps were so impressed with the way Mills has developed since leaving Molineux that they asked whether he was the same player.

Alongside the City top scorer, Blake was outstanding. I cannot recall a better individual performance from a Bantams player this season with his running both on and off the ball a joy to watch.

At times, the ball appears glued to Blake's feet such is the ease with which he goes past defenders.

And I doubt any striker will skip around former City star Dean Richards with such ease for the rest of the season.

Blake gave City the lead in the 20th minute when he expertly skipped past Richards and drilled a low shot past the excellent Mike Stowell in the Wolves goal.

However it was the work he did for Mills' strike which will live longest in the memory. After seeing his fierce drive parried to apparent safety by the opposition goalkeeper in the 51st minute, most players would have thrown their hands up in the air and thought 'how unlucky can I be?'

But not Blake. Instead, he ran out to the left touchline to retrieve the ball, beat a defender and rolled a perfect pass for Mills to score. It was a consummate illustration of just how good the pair can be working together up front.

City's midfield was again in top form with Gareth Whalley in superb form. Some of his passes were sublime while he also got through a tremendous amount of tackles to help tame the Wolves midfield.

In fact, the work ethic which ran through the whole side was probably the most impressive aspect of yet another top class display from City.

If Wolves did manage to get past a Bantams man, you could guarantee that another City player would close them down almost immediately before winning the ball.

City have not been as high in the table since the first Saturday of October last season when they jumped into second place after, ironically, beating Wolves 2-0.

Goals from Rob Steiner and George Kulcsar sealed that victory on one of the Bantams' better afternoons last season and it looked like an exciting campaign lay ahead.

Unfortunately for the Bantams fans, their side did not have the class or ability to maintain that encouraging start. That is not something which can be said after this victory over Wolves.

Only Gary Walsh, Darren Moore, Wayne Jacobs and Peter Beagrie from that starting line-up faced Wolves this time around to illustrate the huge progress City have made in a short period of time.

And I, for one, believe City can look forward with confidence to the second half of their battle to return to the top flight for the first time in nearly eight decades.

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