CITY’S fans may not want to visit Gander Green Lane ever again, but even if that ends up being the case, they will always have two fond memories to take away.
The Bantams, whisper it quietly, look more primed than at any other time since relegation from the third tier in May 2019 to get out of League Two.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s opponents Sutton, after such an impressive debut season in the Football League, have hit the buffers this time around, and may even need to get set for a relegation battle.
Make no mistake, City’s 2-0 win there this weekend was not easy. They had to soak up a lot of first half pressure before taking the lead against the run of play through the prolific Andy Cook.
But that goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Sutton, and the Bantams were the better team thereafter, Scott Banks adding a sensational second goal for the visitors just after the break.
It meant another brilliant away day for City in Sutton, coming just over six months after the magnificent 4-1 win at Gander Green Lane at the back end of last season, arguably the best performance of Mark Hughes’ reign so far.
And it is away form that is carrying the Bantams on their promotion charge.
Results and performances have been indifferent at Valley Parade this term, but yesterday’s win was City’s sixth in seven on the road in League Two.
It means they now sit fourth in the table, just two points behind Northampton, who currently occupy the third and final automatic promotion spot.
The pair clash at Valley Parade this coming weekend, in what looks to be a real promotion six-pointer.
City only put themselves in that position by winning at Sutton yesterday, but they did not make the best start.
There was an early yellow card for Cook after a challenge on Louis John, who went down holding his face after being caught by a stray arm from the Bantams man.
The big man protested to no avail, meaning he would have to walk a tightrope for the rest of the game.
Sutton had the first half-chance of the afternoon, after the impressive Rob Milsom's corner came into the back post and a couple of Sutton's bigger lads went up for the ball. But there was no meaty connection on the eventual header, which drifted harmlessly wide.
The Bantams picked up another yellow card soon after, as Yann Songo'o was booked for flattening Sutton’s top scorer this season, Will Randall, as he bombed down the left.
It was a great ball in by Milsom from the free-kick, but Kylian Kouassi made a mess of his header, skewing it wide.
City finally fashioned some chances of their own after that.
A great ball in from Alex Gilliead towards the back post was just cleared away from Banks.
The ball broke to Richie Smallwood on the edge of the box, but off balance, he could only scoop it over the bar.
The returning Abo Eisa, on his first start for City in nearly a year, then broke into the area but his low ball across was cleared. It came back to Harry Chapman on the edge of the box, but his shot was blocked.
Donovan Wilson got in behind briefly for Sutton, but the angle was tight, and Songo'o threw his body in the way to concede a corner.
Sutton were getting well on top, with Randall a real menace down that left.
He skinned Songo'o again but his cross was cleared. He came straight back and shot from outside the box, forcing Harry Lewis to push the ball away for a corner.
Home captain Craig Eastmond then latched on to a headed clearance, and his half-volley was blocked from close range by Matty Foulds.
Next up, it was Romoney Crichlow's turn to save the day, as he stopped Wilson from almost certainly opening the scoring by blocking him from Kouassi's knock down.
After all that, Sutton probably could not believe it when the Bantams took the lead on 37 minutes.
Banks darted inside and fed Eisa, who worked the ball on to his right foot.
His shot was blocked, but the ball ran through to Cook, who just touched the loose ball past goalkeeper Jack Rose to score. Sutton's players appealed for offside but those protests were in vain.
The Bantams should have added to their lead before the break. First, a tackle broke kindly for them, and Cook put Chapman in one-on-one. He dinked it over the keeper but Milsom hared back and slid the ball off the line.
Then, Chapman then produced a brilliant tackle to rob Joe Kizzi in a dangerous position and he drove into the box.
He had options in the middle who could have tapped the ball in for an easy second, but a dreadful pass across only saw him pick out Sutton stopper Rose.
Right at the start of the second half, Kizzi was furious to be not awarded a penalty after going to ground at the back post from Milsom's floated free-kick in, and the centre-back’s frustrations were compounded moments later.
A City corner was taken short and worked between Banks and Chapman.
The latter tapped the ball to the former, who made an angle for himself, and whipped an absolutely stunning strike into the top corner from the edge of the box, giving Rose absolutely no chance.
Sutton looked to hit back, and Enzio Boldewijn's cross in caused problems.
Though Halliday hacked the ball away, it fell to Eastmond on the edge of the box. He worked some space but spooned his shot over the bar.
Cook chased down a long ball down the right and robbed Kizzi by the touchline.
He burst towards goal from there, but the defender recovered well and though the big Bantams striker tried to buy a penalty off him, the referee rightly ruled that there was nothing in the challenge.
Banks came close to adding his second when his left-footed free-kick dipped just over Rose's crossbar.
Cook was then flattened just outside the box, but the ball broke to Banks, though the Crystal Palace loanee was initially denied by a desperate slide tackle.
He did eventually manage to prod a shot at goal, but could not get enough power on his effort to trouble Rose.
Lewis managed to flick a Sutton corner off his line to prevent it going straight in from Randall, but that unorthodox save came after he had been fouled, so any freak goal would have been ruled out regardless.
Chapman floored Bouldewijn as the latter tried to break down the right for a blatant yellow card, but it was worth it to prevent a dangerous attack.
The final half-chance of the game fell City’s way, as substitute Vadaine Oliver took a long ball down on his chest and fires an audacious effort wide with the outside of his right boot.
Another successful away day for City then. If they can just find some home form, they might become unstoppable.
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