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

When Bradford City's Darren Moore rose unchallenged in the penalty area to thunder an unstoppable header past Ian Bennett, the joy and relief was evident all around Valley Parade.

The bruising defender, predictably dubbed 'Bruno' by the City fans almost as soon as he joined the Bantams last year, had just delivered the knockout blow to end Birmingham City's unbeaten record.

But much more importantly for the Bantams, Moore's first goal since joining the club also earned Paul Jewell's side their first win of the season and the value of that in terms of boosting confidence could be immeasurable.

On the balance of play in their opening four games, City should have earned a lot more than one point.

With the Bantams spending an unprecedented amount of money since the end of last season, it means that all of a sudden they are, as a club, there to be shot at. That is probably why the critics appeared to be lining up to have a go at Jewell and his side following the disappointing start.

But, to City's credit, they turned in a dogged and battling performance at just the right time to beat a side quite rightly judged to be one of the favourites for automatic promotion.

The manner of the performance was not always totally convincing and, in truth, City probably played better in the last hour at Crewe on Friday than they did against Trevor Francis' side.

But what this victory did show is that they can never be accused of a lack of commitment and in the end were deserved winners.

City's two goals came from superbly executed corners from Gareth Whalley, who picked out both Lee Mills and Darren Moore to cancel out Peter Ndlovu's opener after 56 minutes.

However, as impressive as those two strikes were, this victory owed a huge debt to a superb defensive effort from Jewell's men.

The Bantams were simply magnificent at the back with Wayne Jacobs returning on the left and Andy O'Brien playing in an unaccustomed role at right back. Both players impressed alongside the central pairing of John Dreyer and Moore.

And it was the return of Dreyer which, I believe, was the catalyst for City's fine defensive effort.

He marshalled the back line superbly in a manner similar to the leading role played by Eddie Youds last season and, as a result, one of the most dangerous forward lines in Division One rarely had a chance.

In fact, the Blues' goal had an element of fortune about it. It came in the 56th minute when a left wing cross from Martin Grainger struck the lively Ndlovu on the shoulder.

The ball could have gone anywhere and the City defence were certainly caught cold when it came down for the former Coventry striker to slam home a fine volley.

Nigel Pepper impressed on his return to the side with his late runs to support the attack while Mills again won his fair share of balls in the air.

And the former Port Vale man brought City level just three minutes later. Whalley again threatened while Peter Beagrie also came more into the game and it was clear that three points were there for the taking.

In the 73rd minute City's industry and aggression paid off when Moore arrived at the far post to thunder another superb Whalley corner into the net and spark joyous celebrations around Valley Parade.

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