Bantams fans breathe collective Syers relief!

This campaign will ultimately be remembered for all the wrong reasons. But amid all the blame and recrimination that will inevitably follow, the one shining light in the tunnel should not be overlooked.

There may not be a presentation evening to honour him but David Syers is the runaway player of the season.

So it was fitting that it should be his last-gasp goal that clinched the win that takes City over the 50-point safety mark. Only a miracle – in fact, several miracles – can consign them to a bottom-two finish now.

Jackson had given Saturday’s flops the immediate opportunity to redeem themselves. He resisted the temptation, which must have been overwhelming, to swing the axe and only Steve Williams, subbed at half-time at Accrington, was missing.

City really needed to make a fast start to get the crowd back onside – and they got it with a stunning goal after just four minutes.

Omar Daley collected Robbie Threlfall’s throw-in 25 yards out, turned inside and then let rip with a wicked curler which flew past Jamie Young’s dive and inside his far post.

It was a superb effort from the Jamaican and demonstrated why City had been so desperate to get him back from Rotherham.

The place erupted as the ghosts of Accrington were blown away with one precise hit. But City’s nerves were still apparent.

Luke Oliver stretched to cut out a long pass from Anthony Straker and Lenny Pidgeley seemed to wait an age before gathering another through ball as Jermaine McGlashan closed in.

Oliver shoved Danny Hylton just outside the angle of the box but John Halls’ free-kick deflected wide off the wall. Then Darren Jones failed to connect with a free header.

Referee Scott Mathieson earned an ironic cheer when he pulled up Halls for a tug on Jake Speight. Threlfall’s free-kick, though well struck, was straight at Young.

Oliver slipped as Hylton advanced menacingly into the danger zone but shanked his shot, to City’s relief. The air was thick with tension.

But City were inches away from settling the mood with a second goal on 27 minutes.

Michael Flynn won possession with a crunching tackle on Halls to feed James Hanson, who instantly let rip from outside the area. His shot pinged against the inside of the post and came back so hard that the rebound knocked Speight over.

Speight then got involved in a spot of afters with right back Ben Herd but the official surprisingly decided to let play continue without any words with either player.

Aldershot missed a glorious chance to level on the half-hour mark after Pidgeley parried a drive from Jones. Herd picked up the loose ball and whipped in a cross but Peter Vincenti somehow nodded the free header wide.

City went back on the attack, with a decent cross from Speight winning their second corner. Oliver met Daley’s kick with a low header bound for the bottom corner but Young scooped it off the line with a fine save.

There was a lot more effort about City than 48 hours earlier but Flynn paid the price for a stretching challenge on the touchline when he went down in a heap. The skipper was forced to limp off to loud applause.

With Gareth Evans replacing him, Syers moved back into his natural more central role so the balance of the team was not affected.

But City had another big escape seven minutes before the break after Daley carelessly gave the ball away in the Shots box. With the home side stretched, black shirts swarmed upfield and McGlashan set up Alex Rodman for a straight-forward tap-in – but under pressure from Lewis Hunt, he side-footed against the post to the disbelief of his team-mates.

They also were not too happy that Lee Bullock had appeared to level Hylton off the ball as the back four frantically chased back.

City were certainly living on their nerves defensively but the luck ran out from Aldershot’s next attack. Rodman’s initial shot was blocked by the sliding Bullock but Vincenti pounced on the rebound and tucked it past Pidgeley from a tight angle.

City could still have restored their lead before the break as Young was caught in no man’s land after a weak punch. Speight hooked the ball goalwards but it struck the back of Jones, who knew little about it, and spun wide.

The half-time score could have been 3-3 rather than 1-1 but City needed to take better care of possession. Too many passes had gone astray.

The hosts looked to pick the tempo back up from the restart and Syers latched on to a loose ball to test Young with an awkward bouncing effort. Speight and Herd again got involved and, this time, Mathieson decided to have a quiet word.

McGlashan tracked back to nick the ball off Daley and then set off on a menacing charge of his own over the halfway line. Fortunately his touch was heavy, which allowed Oliver to slide across and cut out the danger.

But lack of attention in possession continued to prove City’s downfall. Too often, it was easy to just launch the ball away without any serious thought about where it was going.

Aldershot, in contrast, showed good movement and played with an appetite that suggested they wanted it far more than a team with supposedly little to play for.

Speight’s busy but largely unproductive afternoon was finished after 65 minutes as Jackson went with two big men up front and threw on Chib Chilaka.

The game was starting to drift but sparked back into life when a Halls volley out of nothing forced a diving block from Pidgeley.

“Attack, attack,” urged the Bradford End but there was little sign of a second City goal. Hanson was a bit-part player and Chilaka had hardly had a touch.

Aldershot skipper Anthony Charles picked up the game’s first yellow card for a lunge on Syers but Threlfall’s free-kick curled harmlessly into the stand.

Young followed his captain into the book for handling outside his area. This time it was Evans who stepped up for the set-piece but his right-foot drive proved just as ineffective.

Aldershot still fancied it on the break and Pidgeley had to come racing out to mop up the potential threat as Hylton eluded Oliver.

Bullock, having another steady game at the back, delivered a well-timed challenge to thwart Hylton in the box. Syers was not quite so precise with a tackle from behind on McGlashan and got booked.

Mathieson made it four yellow cards in ten minutes when Halls was punished for clipping Daley’s heels. The free-kick was touched to Threlfall, whose 25-yard blast was tipped over by Young.

That looked to be City’s best chance of a win gone. But then Syers forced another corner – and was first there from Evans’ kick to head home at the near post.

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