City never say die

One end was still in excellent nick. The other, which City had attacked furiously during the closing stages, was completely scuffed up.

The surface offered indisputable evidence of a never-say-die spirit to rescue a point that had seemed well out of reach.

Brentford was one of the briefest stop-off points in Claridge's colourful career. The City hitman reckons he spent only 125 minutes in action last season before boss Martin Allen decided he'd seen enough.

That decision came back to bite 'Mad Dog' on the bottom yesterday as the Bantams produced a gutsy recovery from two goals down.

With time running out, it was a foul on Claridge which earned the penalty to salvage a draw that had looked well beyond them when Brentford led 3-1 after an hour.

Tom Kearney's bustling run upset the defence and the ball broke invitingly for Claridge in the penalty area. Goalkeeper Stuart Nelson came out to smother his initial effort but the City substitute managed to drag him away from his goal and then fell to the floor when the challenge came in from behind.

Whether it was a penalty is open to debate - Claridge tactfully shrugged his shoulders afterwards - but under the eyes of the Kop,

referee Darren Drysdale had no doubts.

And neither did Marc Bridge-Wilkinson with the spot-kick as he sent Nelson completely the wrong way.

Bridge-Wilkinson had already stamped his imprint on the game with another trademark free-kick in the first half.

Anyone who missed his goal in the win over Walsall just needs to watch the video of this one. It was identical right down to the same spot on the field.

Dean Windass shielded the ball from the Brentford wall but Nelson must have known where Bridge-Wilkinson was aiming. Not that it made the slightest difference as the midfielder's inch-perfect shot hit the precise point he was going for.

Colin Todd calls him "the maestro" and there were few on either side who would argue with his dead-ball prowess.

That goal just before half-time rejuvenated the Bantams after the shock of finding themselves two behind.

The real surprise was that both Brentford goals were down to dodgy defensive moments. City's campaign may have been up and down so far but the backline have been solidness personified. Blunders have been very few and far between.

Errors from David Wetherall are as frequent as heatwaves in the Antarctic - but it was a slip from the skipper which gave away the first after four minutes.

Wetherall should have cleared the danger just outside the City box but delayed fatally. It allowed Dudley Campbell the time to nick the ball away and drill a 20-yarder past the diving Donovan Ricketts.

A year ago Campbell, or DJ as he was then known, was starring for non-league Yeading against Newcastle. He is certainly hitting the right notes since Brentford took a gamble with him.

Campbell was nearly gifted a second after a

terrible mistake from Darren Holloway. The right back got his first chance since November because of Richard Edghill's hamstring injury and almost blew it after 15 minutes with a blind backpass.

It turned into a perfectly-weighted through pass for Lloyd Owusu and although Wetherall cut off the initial danger, Campbell was still odds on to score.

But out came Ricketts with a big right leg to block and hand his full back an enormous reprieve.

City's midfield, missing Bobby Petta through illness, were still finding it tough to make any inroads into the uncompromising visitors. Brentford won't win any beauty contests but they are good at what they do.

And the Bees were buzzing even more in the 26th minute when Campbell doubled his tally from the penalty spot.

Centre half Sam Sodje is no Ronaldinho but he was allowed to waltz unchecked from the halfway line before opening up the City defence. Campbell looked a yard offside but the flag stayed down and Ricketts came out with a rash dive which sent the striker tumbling.

The home fans were in familiar territory as City played some pretty build-up football without producing anything to ruffle Nelson's goal. Ben Muirhead's introduction for the injured Steve Schumacher at least allowed Bridge-Wilkinson to move central where he could get more involved.

His flash of inspiration got City back into the match and within a minute of the restart they were so close to levelling.

The excellent Danny Cadamarteri crossed from the left, Windass flicked on and the header pinged off the Brentford bar. Muirhead seized on the rebound and sent it back goalwards but Michael Turner scrambled off the line.

But the momentum was killed after 59 minutes because of some non-existent marking at a corner. Eddie Hutchinson was given a free header to nod across goal and Sodje slipped marker Windass to nod home unchallenged.

Claridge came on for Holloway as Lewis Emanuel, who had made no impression wide on the left, moved again to right back.

City, to their credit, refused to give up against Brentford's resolute defending and they were rewarded with a second goal 12 minutes from the end.

Muirhead won a corner and took it, Windass nodded into the mix where Wetherall cancelled out his early error by applying the decisive prod from six yards.

Valley Parade came alive as City poured forward looking for a late leveller. Bridge-Wilkinson forced a low save from Nelson and the noise rose as teenager Joe Brown was given his home debut for Windass.

It took the 17-year-old five minutes to get a real touch but when he did, intelligently flicking the ball into Kearney's path, it set off the penalty move.

As Bridge-Wilkinson readied himself to take it, usual taker Windass had total faith. Standing in the dug-out technical area, he assured the nervous fans nearby by shouting: "Don't worry, he'll score."

Windass was not wrong and punched the air with the same delight as those supporters. He then jumped up and down like a jack in the box for the final moments while his team hunted an unlikely fourth.

But a battling draw should not be sniffed at. From a terrible start, this was ultimately a promising way to kick off the new year.