Bradford City's performance at Sunderland has not only boosted the optimism among the Valley Parade faithful, it has also brought about a change in the prefix which is being attached to the Bantams by the media.

When Paul Jewell smashed the club record fee twice in just six days at the start of the season in bringing Lee Mills and Isaiah Rankin to Valley Parade, the national media were forced to sit up and take note.

Where before the club had been looked upon as 'good old Bradford City', now it was clear that the Bantams were serious about achieving Premiership status.

All of a sudden, Paul Jewell's side were dubbed 'Big-spending Bradford City' every time they were mentioned in the newspapers or on television.

And when City started the season with four defeats in their first six league games, several people appeared to relish using the tag as if to illustrate that money can't buy success.

However last Saturday's performance at the intimidating Stadium of Light against free-scoring Sunderland has brought about another swift change.

Where City were dubbed 'big-spending', now their new official name appears to be 'dark horses of the division, Bradford City'. It is a sudden transformation.

Jewell was almost certainly correct when he said after the Sunderland draw that his side were not as bad as people had been making out after the four defeats, and they probably weren't as good as people would make out now.

The City boss undoubtedly has a point. His side are still gelling together but the vast majority of City supporters I have spoken to since Saturday are very upbeat about their team's chances this season.

It was not the actual result which has led to this optimism, it was the manner of the City performance.

The game was certainly not a classic for the neutral with both defences on top throughout. However the most pleasing aspect for City is the way they controlled the pattern of play for long spells.

Anyone who has seen the Wearsiders play in the past 14 months knows that their wingers play a major part in any success, particularly at the home.

Both Allan Johnston and Nicky Summerbee are capable of delivering inviting crosses and with two strapping forwards in Niall Quinn and Daniele Dichio lining up against City, the dangers were obvious.

However City's game-plan effectively snuffed out this danger by denying the widemen any space and as a result all Sunderland could do was pump long balls into the penalty area which were easily dealt with by the impressive pairing of Darren Moore and John Dreyer.

It was a great display by the Bantams. Not only did they neutralise the most potent attack in the First Division, but they could also have won all three points with Robbie Blake twice going close.

In fact, the only down side for City fans on Saturday was that the draw allowed bitter rivals Huddersfield to reclaim top spot.

The unbeaten run which now stretches to seven games has lifted Jewell's men up the table and the tight nature of the division means they are only a few points behind the leading pack.

Every side is capable of taking points off each other, as was again illustrated last weekend, and with around three-quarters of the season still remaining, who knows just what City may achieve?

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