Chesterfield 0 Bradford City 1

CHESTERFIELD’S pre-match DJ must have borrowed his set from the office Christmas party.

From snatches of Cliff Richard and Eddie Cochran to Modern Romance and T-Spoon, his collection of cheesy tunes from down the ages would have fitted in well at any works knees-up.

But the City players did not need any musical monstrosities to ensure their festive night out went with a swing.

They boarded the plane bound for Dublin after the game in the highest of spirits as the Bantam charge stepped up another notch.

These boys sure like to travel – this was their fifth win away from Valley Parade in the league this season and seventh in all.

And now they are once again making a bee-line for the play-off pack, sitting only a point adrift of sixth-placed Rochdale.

Billy Clarke will have led the celebrations in his homeland after marking his 27th birthday with a strong contender for City’s goal of the season.

They could also be excused for raising a cheeky glass in honour of Chesterfield captain Sam Morsy, who pressed the self-destruct button on his own team’s chances with a mindless sending-off.

One up against ten men, City should have had their party hats and glad rags on long before the final whistle.

First when Jon Stead inexplicably hit the post from five yards out after Clarke had laid the goal on a plate.

Then when Stead’s through ball was missed by Sam Clucas which sent Filipe Morais in the clear – only to find Keighley’s finest stopper Tommy Lee his equal in the one-on-one.

Put either of those away and the points were in the can. But failure on both counts did give Chesterfield a sniff that maybe all was not lost.

So instead of cruising to another three road points, City had to sweat it out through some anxious late moments – most notably when Jordan Pickford produced a blinding reflex tip-over to deny a disbelieving Jay O’Shea.

But aside from a few frayed nerves in the dug-out and gnawed fingernails in the away end, maybe that was not such a bad thing.

The elusive clean sheet has been a long time coming. It was fitting that a first shut-out since October 4 should be earned the hard way.

Boss Phil Parkinson said: “I’d love to have killed the game off and we should have done. But, in a way, we’ve had to show that real grittiness about us.

“We’ve got that work ethic about us and physically you can’t carry anybody on your travels.

“We showed the same qualities that have been required every time we’ve been successful away from home.

“I didn’t want to make too big a thing of it after the Dartford game but it hurt Steve (Parkin) and I that we’d conceded again.

“Jordy and the back four are working so hard on the training ground, with the midfield in front of them, to get that clean sheet.

“Saturday will do everyone the world of good. You talk about big moments and Jordan made a truly Premier League save – you need your goalkeeper to produce like that at times.”

That bullet dodged thanks to the youngster’s agility, Parkinson called Clarke to the touchline ten minutes from time to reinforce the message about not letting the win slip from their grasp.

He wanted the post-match talk to be dominated by Clarke’s winning goal not a case of “what ifs” as Chesterfield chased a late equaliser – something they had achieved on the previous two occasions when City came visiting.

“We missed two chances at 1-0 to put the game out of sight,” added Parkinson. “That gave Chesterfield a lift and we sat back and it affected us for a while.

“Sometimes you don’t take your chances, but when a striker doesn’t score, he needs the back four to make sure that doesn’t get remembered.

“In the same way, if a defender makes a mistake and gives away a goal, it needs a striker to dig you out of it.

“There’s that kind of spirit within the boys at the moment. Everybody is working so hard for each other.”

Pickford’s return was one of two changes from the FA Cup team, with Parkinson also bringing back Andy Halliday for Billy Knott in midfield.

The Scotsman’s presence was the manager’s nod towards solidity over flamboyance and he was a central figure in the afternoon’s key talking point three minutes after the break.

As he got a pass off, Halliday was caught with a flying elbow from Morsy and collapsed to the floor. The Spireites skipper was a goner, although the crowd’s angry claims that the City man had milked it were shot down by the shiner he was soon sporting.

Halliday jokingly tweeted afterwards that he was “still handsome” but Parkinson called it the type of clash that could have broken his cheekbone.

It was a mindless moment from a player who had been Chesterfield’s best up to that point.

Just two minutes before, Morsy’s teasing cross along the six-yard box just eluded the lunging Gary Roberts. The slightest of contacts would have put the Spireites ahead.

His moment of madness then followed – and eight minutes later City cashed in through Clarke.

There was a hint of hands about the way he brought down a lofted pass but his swivel and shot left no argument, the ball arcing perfectly into the furthest point of the home net.

City had not made the most of some decent scoring opportunities before the break, Clarke especially with a header he looped over the bar from close range.

That did not matter when he put their most difficult chance of the afternoon into the top corner.

After that, it was down to resilience at the other end to see the job through and the team’s Christmas do could kick off on the perfect note.

Attendance: 6,809

Chesterfield v City picture gallery