CITY 0 SALFORD 0

THE whistle may have spared sensitive ears but it came too late to make any difference for City.

“Scandal that” shouted Sam Walker with the refereeing sound effect on the club’s post-match video bleeping out the keeper’s emphatic epithet.

Unfortunately, there had been no such whistle following the incident which he was complaining about.

Still images clearly indicated the ball had been over the line; the green from a pristine-looking Valley Parade pitch visible between the white paint and the lunging left foot of desperate defender Stephan Negru.

Andy Cook was already wheeling away in celebration with the crowd on their feet.

But referee Geoff Eltringham and his assistant on the Midland Road side were unmoved, Cook forced into altering his joyful run into an attempt to retrieve the ball and play on.

The number nine’s only souvenir was a late yellow card for sarcastically applauding said linesman for flagging that he’d not managed to keep a cross in play.

“You spotted that one then” he bawled at the official, or words to that effect.

Of course, in this football world of haves and have nots, had his shot occurred at any Premier League ground, Eltringham’s watch would have instantly buzzed and the goal rewarded.

But technology does not exist this far down. The man in the middle didn’t give it so, in the words of Graham Alexander, you just have to “suck it up”.

Frustrating so frustrating summing up an occasion where we hoped everything would change but ultimately nothing really did.

For the fourth time in six years, City kicked off their home campaign with a goalless stalemate.

Alexander’s pre-match call to dump the “bag of bitterness” about recent Valley Parade shortcomings was heeded for the most part.

The crowd tried to will his side to victory but a bitty game felt all too familiar for long spells.

The scattering of boos that surfaced at the final whistle felt like an acceptance that we’d seen this all before.

The home side had played okay, certainly in the second half when they thankfully picked up the baton after a listless opening 45 minutes.

But against a Salford side content to break things up and take the sting out of any situation, it became a familiar watch.

City had their moments, none more so than the Cook one missed by the officials, but it was a stodgy spectacle that deflated the mood.

Still, four points from two games puts the Bantams among only half a dozen or so teams still unbeaten – indicating just how tight we can expect League Two to be this season.

Among those are EFL new boys Bromley with two wins and no goals conceded; City can anticipate a tricky test when the wide-eyed Londoners roll up at Valley Parade next weekend.

You sense there will be a bit of pressure on the hosts on Saturday after this draw. Such is the nature of the beast when you play fourth-tier football in this arena.

Handling home hype and conquering the grand surroundings will always be top of the agenda for every City side.

However much Alexander stresses they should not be influenced by the past, the players must learn the lessons of those who have faced the same challenges before them.

The wall of noise that greeted the teams was an instant sign for the new arrivals of the size of this club.

That volume peaked again during the second half as City tried to build the momentum to break Salford’s solid resistance.

But there were long lulls in between when things went quiet and their team lacked the necessary invention or guile to fashion that killer opportunity.

The Bantams were good defensively where Aden Baldwin, in particular, and Neill Byrne look to have slot in comfortably with the system.

Ciaran Kelly still has distribution issues and that seems to be holding back Tyreik Wright, whose lack of decent service limited his output going forward.

Both wing backs were pushed too deep in a first half where City seemed to be playing five at the back most of the time as Salford held the upper hand.

Fortunately, the visitors created little in that time. One flick from one-time Derek Adams target Cole Stockton was safely pouched by Walker but otherwise the Ammies remained at arm’s length.

You could see why Salford, for all their pace in the build-up, have not scored a goal yet this season.

But City’s chances were limited. Cook worked hard with what he could get but partner Calum Kavanagh continues with a difficult start.

The young Irishman is trying almost too hard to get going; his first touch a bit heavy, his timing slightly off.

Having finished last season with a bang, you know it will come. But for now he’s in a sticky patch and the tidy cameo of Fulham forward Olly Sanderson from the bench will give Alexander plenty to ponder over this game-free week.

The City boss had unsurprisingly reverted to the starting line-up that performed so well at Stadium MK.

But it didn’t look like that for the first half with Alex Pattison, so impressive on the opening day, struggling to get into the game.

Antoni Sarcevic fared better alongside him and would have the bulk of the scoring chances once City settled down after the break.

Owner Stefan Rupp was among the crowd after his summer promise that he would be on show more this season.

But the German will have squirmed like the rest of us at the lack of control up to half-time. The feelgood factor was soon on the wane.

The appearance of Dean Windass on the pitch at half-time might have lifted the mood if problems with his microphone had not made his interview completely inaudible.

At least, City could clearly hear the message from their manager while that was going on and emerged more like the team that had won three on the bounce at home in their rush to the finish line last season.

Hopes of extending that run were lifted when Sarcevic broke through, only to get his feet in a tangle and lose all sense of where the goal was.

Wright and Brad Halliday had a go before the best chance fell to Cook. Seizing on the rebound from Pattison’s blocked cross, he stepped away from one tackle before angling a shot past keeper Jamie Jones.

Centre half Negru tried to block on the line but the reaction of all around him suggested that the ball was in – all except those who decide on these things.

Sanderson set up Sarcevic for a late effort beaten away by Jones but a goal remained elusive.