Calum Kavanagh delighted to score first Bradford City goal

Who at Valley Parade was remotely bothered if it was a tap-in into an empty net from a yard out?

Nothing could diminish the young striker’s special moment as he got off the mark in City colours.

“I don’t care as long as the ball goes in the back of the net,” he said. “I was just delighted to score in a positive result for the team.

“We got through the little storm of possession they had in the first half. We managed that and scored two good goals.

“We then came out firing in the second half. You could tell that with the two goals in three or four minutes.

“It was a really good day at the office.”

Graham Alexander talked about the Bantams putting in the hard yards in the 4-0 win over MK Dons.

Kavanagh certainly did that in the lead-up to his goal.

Initially winning the ball in his own half to start the move, he ran on to be there to finish it when Clarke Oduor’s shot was touched onto the post by keeper Nathan Harness.

As the ball bobbled back along the line, there was the 20-year-old to gleefully apply the coup de grace.

“When the ball came to me the first time in our half previously, it was a transition and it was just about finding a player.

“I gave it to Cooky (Andy Cook) and he put it out wide. When I saw Clarke was one v one, I just said to myself, ‘just make it into the box’.

“He cut inside and did well to have a shot on goal and fortunately it just fell for me and I was able to put it into an empty net.

“I’ve been looking forward to this moment happening in front of the home fans at Valley Parade. I was absolutely delighted.”

Sharing the goals around has been a mantra for Alexander since he took charge. Exactly 100 days on, he could look back with some satisfaction at a scoresheet containing four different names.

Kavanagh added: “That’s huge. Football’s not easy and there will be games when it’s sometimes not going to happen for us and it’s about battling through that and finding a way.

“What has happened previously this season is done with and forgotten about with all the lads.

“We’re just looking forward and giving us something to build on going into Saturday.

“All you can do is take it game by game and focus on the team we’re playing next. That’s all we’re going to do.

“We’ve got seven points from nine in the last three games. Even the Wimbledon game was a decent performance from the boys and something to build on.

“Saturday was a great result at Wrexham against another good team and we backed that up with a big result again.

“There’s a good belief within the changing room and we’re just looking to take that into every game ahead of us.”

Andy Cook was also on target in the 4-0 win over MK Dons (Image: Thomas Gadd)

Kavanagh can already feel he is building up an understanding with Cook – who is proving a mentor for the deadline-day recruit.

“He’s great to play with,” admitted Kavanagh. “I knew that straight away as soon as I came in.

“Cooky’s numbers don’t lie and even from the Wimbledon game, I could tell we could maybe have a good link-up.

“He wins the first ball and I’m obviously looking to win the second one. We’ve done that well over the last two or three games.

“It gives me a lot of confidence and he’s also a great lad. It’s obviously nice playing next to him.

“The whole changing room have been brilliant with me and I’ve really enjoyed myself here.”

Kavanagh is also getting to grips with the challenge of the home pitch, which is certainly not going to get any easier with the visit of basement club Sutton this weekend.

“The pitch is the same for everyone and I thought we did well on it.

“I remember a funny bounce when the ball came to me in the first half but there are no excuses from us.

“When this place has got a few fans here and it’s bouncing, it’s a great place to play football. The surface doesn’t really matter to us.”

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