Bradford City 0 Preston 3

CITY experienced another tilt of the play-off rollercoaster as the highs of Good Friday were followed by yesterday’s lows at Valley Parade.

Yorkshireman Simon Grayson got the Lancashire victory he wanted in a full-blooded Roses battle as his Preston side took another giant step towards promotion.

For the Bantams, it was a chastening afternoon after the delight of dumping Doncaster. From the moment that Chris Routis was despatched for an early bath, the task seemed a pretty impossible one.

There may not have been three goals between the sides in terms of performance but Preston were functional and clinical when they needed to be – a formula that has cemented second spot on the back of a 13-game unbeaten run.

The Bantams, meanwhile, remain scrapping desperately for sixth, although the distance to Chesterfield in that coveted position stretched once more to six points – as it had been before the Easter weekend.

Routis was only playing at centre half after Gary MacKenzie failed to recover from the ankle whack he suffered scoring the opener at Doncaster.

So with Andrew Davies still not right, the Frenchman made his first defensive start since he was subbed before half-time at Oldham in October.

But this time he only made it as far as the 15th minute when a professional foul on Joe Garner gave referee Mark Heywood no choice but to brandish the red card. The scales immediately tilted firmly in Preston’s favour.

The sense of anticipation before the game had probably been the biggest on an Easter Monday since the win at Sunderland in 2000 that sparked City’s “great escape” in the Premier League.

John Dreyer, the scoring hero that day, was back at Valley Parade as Grayson’s assistant manager. But there was no return to the club for Kyel Reid, who could not even make the Preston bench again.

Preston boasted the best defence in the division but their three-man backline was punctured in the sixth minute by James Hanson’s raking pass. Keeper Sam Johnstone was alive to the danger and just beat Jon Stead on the edge of the box to punch away.

It was frenetic early stuff played in a cracking atmosphere – but then came the flashpoint that blew City’s plans apart.

Bailey Wright’s booming header caused the danger, clearing the ball from one half to another, where Garner wriggled goal-side of Routis with some neat movement.

With Preston’s top scorer clean through, the defender – who had actually started the game well – could only manage to pull him down from behind.

City v Preston picture gallery

Last season’s bad-tempered affair between the sides had seen two red cards for a spot of centre-circle hand bags. But there was no argument about the validity of this dismissal.

Gary Liddle slipped back into defence alongside Rory McArdle but it left City facing a massive task against a side who had not failed to score in a game since November 4.

The hosts had started on the front foot and admirably tried to stay that way, backed by an impressive wall of noise from the Kop.

Billy Knott produced the first shot with a volley, which deflected off Filipe Morais to take the sting away. But the fans cheered everything – and vented their fury at a succession of Preston fouls.

The volume increased as McArdle brought Daniel Johnson’s threatening run to a shuddering halt but the midfielder recovered possession and held off a block from Stephen Darby.

Johnson fed Garner cutting in from the edge of the City penalty area and his curling attempt past Ben Williams was a fraction away from finding the bottom corner.

City’s goal remained intact as half-time approached – but the ten men blew a glorious chance to strike first.

Former Bantam loanee Tom Clarke underhit a backpass and Stead picked it off to find himself with only Johnstone to beat.

But rather than trying to commit the Preston keeper, he took the shot early and drove the ball straight into his body. It was the sort of opportunity that you would expect him to bury.

Tempers were rising as tackles flew in and Jermaine Beckford drew an angry reaction from the home fans when he shoved Liddle straight into Williams.

Liddle needed treatment for the force of the collision and the Kop were not happy that the one-time Leeds striker only saw a yellow card. Phil Parkinson clearly felt the same and tried to make the point in Grayson’s face as the fourth official got between the pair.

But it needed only 18 seconds of the second half for City’s defensive resolve to crumble. Beckford got to a through ball a fraction ahead of Liddle and referee Heywood pointed straight to the spot under the noses of the 2,000-strong Preston end.

Paul Gallagher tried to confuse Williams by lining up with his back to goal before spinning round to take the penalty.

The City keeper guessed right and plunged to block – but the rebound sat up kindly for Gallagher to convert.

And Preston wasted little time in ramming home their sudden advantage with a second goal soon after. City should have cleared their lines but the ball stayed alive and Johnson seized the initiative with a thumping shot into the roof of the net from 15 yards.

Having shown little before the break, Preston were now totally in control and it needed a wonderful save from Williams to deny Beckford heading in a third from sub Neil Kilkenny’s cross.

City replaced Stead with Mark Yeates midway through the half, throwing Billy Clarke up front alongside Hanson. But despite working hard to win plenty of possession, they could not find a pass good enough to create an opening.

The only chance of a fightback seemed to come from a set-piece but Yeates fired one straight into the wall and another provided Johnstone with simple catching practice.

Clarke nearly conjured something out of nothing with an instinctive volley that the Preston keeper tipped over.

But the result was put beyond any doubt

after 80 minutes when Humphrey struck a third goal for the visitors with a dipping effort over Williams that took a deflection off James Meredith.

Hanson nearly pulled one back with a flick header that was blocked on the line by Kilkenny. But there was one more late scare when Yeates briefly left the action clutching that troublesome shoulder again.