VERDICT: Bradford City's first defeat to Grimsby in 26 years

ON THE plus side, the last time City lost a league game to Grimsby didn’t work out too badly in the end.

A 2-0 setback at Blundell Park in mid-October 1998 left the Bantams kicking around in mid-table with as many defeats as wins at the time.

Seven months on, that team would clinch City’s place in the Premier League.

Twenty meetings later, a first loss in over a quarter of a century represents a slap in the face – and a warning.

Having begun the day with the prospect of potentially climbing to the summit of League Two, City ended it cursing a performance when they only really turned up in the closing stages.

They were well off it and can have no argument.

Maybe the choice of kit was a bad omen of what was to come as City lost to the team that never beat them.

Given Carlisle’s rotten start to the season – which saw them part ways with boss Paul Simpson on Saturday night – opting for the lookalike all blue third kit might have been tempting fate.

It was a bad day all-round and presents the first of no doubt many tests this season. Good teams bounce straight back – over to you.

You feared the worst with referee Stephen Martin when he made the teams wait for nearly a minute before kicking off after realising the corner flag had not been put in right.

He would blow up for 42 fouls – 24 of those against the Bantams – in a performance that Graham Alexander felt flew in the face of the pre-season promise from the authorities to allow more contact.

Grimsby realised early on that they could buy a free-kick whenever City got too close with their press, and invited the slightest nudge, making it difficult for the visitors to build any momentum for a fightback.

Not that they really threatened anything until the last 15 minutes – or six as Alexander sarcastically described it with the amount of time the official stopped play.

To be fair, the early stages had not suggested the Bantams were on course for that first defeat.

Martin’s stop-start running of the game prevented any flow with City’s only discomfort losing Aden Baldwin to injury. But it would have a major impact.

Baldwin has looked the part on the right of the back three since his recruitment from Notts County.

Defensively solid and with a good eye for a long pass, he has been arguably the pick of the summer signings so far.

Ciaran Kelly had an uncomfortable time playing in the middle (Image: Thomas Gadd)

But he paid a heavy price as City were caught out by Grimsby playing it neatly out from the back.

Left back Denver Hume set off scampering and Baldwin’s unsuccessful touchline lunge saw him over-extend in the sticky turf and feel his hamstring.

The extent of the injury won’t become clear until the swelling goes down and the defender can be scanned. But the early signs were worrying.

His withdrawal immediately upset the equilibrium of a backline that had appeared quite solid in the opening weeks.

Cheick Diabate, the natural replacement on the right, was left on the bench – with Alexander saying the Exeter new boy was not up to speed tactically and it would have been unfair to throw him straight in after one shortened training stint.

Jack Shepherd was summoned instead with Ciaran Kelly shifted to the middle and Neill Byrne into Baldwin’s role. They looked like square pegs in round holes.

There was no composure and control about City’s defending; Kelly appeared uncomfortable throughout while Byrne lacked the pace to push up the right as Baldwin tends to do.

The first cracks appeared on 28 minutes, inevitably from a free-kick, after Shepherd’s foul on Danny Rose.

Hume’s delivery swung and dipped late like Jimmy Anderson’s finest and Sam Walker was suddenly caught out of position as he came to claim it.

The keeper could only shovel it out and Shepherd’s panicked clearance flew to Rose to jab straight back through the crowd of players with an instinctive flick.

Grimsby players and fans were lifted by the goal and should have been celebrating soon after but Evan Khouri somehow cleared the bar from eight yards.

City were all over the shop – and not just at the back.

Midfield could get no grip on the game. Bobby Pointon, the choice to replace the injured Antoni Sarcevic, flitted in and out but Alex Pattison, usually such a busy figure, was just getting passed by.

Up front, Calum Kavanagh’s difficult start to the new season went from bad to worse.

City had never lost a league game when the young striker had started before this – winning 11 out of 14.

He was fortunate to keep his starting spot in Cleethorpes ahead of Olly Sanderson, something that will surely change for Carlisle’s visit.

Kavanagh is trying too hard to get back into his stride; over-thinking his runs, taking a touch too many or too heavy. One loose miscontrol booting the ball straight out of play highlighted his current discomfort.

Andy Cook, usually the ultimate spurned ex for his old clubs, seemed to spend most of his time on defending free-kick duty.

His only sniff of another goal against a former employer was a Pointon cross that eluded his stretching leg at the far post.

Sanderson appeared for the second half but had barely broken into a jog before City were two down.

It was an awful goal to concede – with Kelly badly exposed by Kieran Green in the build-up.

Tyrell Warren pumped a long pass just over halfway where Kelly was easily spun by the Grimsby captain. Even his attempt to pull him back failed as the Irishman was left trailing in Green’s wake.

Olly Sanderson gets off the mark with City's consolation goal (Image: Thomas Gadd)

But team-mate Jason Dadi Svanthorsson was on Green’s shoulder and with Byrne backing off, the Icelander accepted the invitation to score his first goal in English football.

More could and should have followed as City were sliced open.

They lived on their nerves for a period of Grimsby domination but the deficit stayed at two.

Clarke Oduor and Jamie Walker joined the fray and calmed City down in the middle of the park. Both must be in contention for the number eight slots at the weekend.

They finally took the fight to Grimsby and were rewarded when Oduor’s shot from the edge of the box was fumbled by previously-redundant home keeper Jordan Wright.

Sanderson accepted the present to open his account and City had some late hope. But Walker fired narrowly wide and Sanderson straight at the keeper as Grimsby held on to put their unwanted record to bed.

For City, the first time they have left a league game empty-handed since the horrors of Harrogate in March. The challenge now is to build the next run.