CARLISLE boss Paul Simpson couldn’t imagine the reaction if Jordan Gibson had scored a last-gasp winner at Valley Parade.

The former City winger was jeered by home fans from the moment he stepped on to the pitch as a late substitute.

But he so nearly had the last laugh six minutes into stoppage time with a shot that beat Harry Lewis but crashed against the inside of the post.

Simpson said: “I thought it was a fantastic game of football with two teams slugging it out trying to get a winner. Neither one were settling for a draw.

“Second half we came under incredible pressure and it’s fair to say we wouldn’t have deserved to win it.

“But I dread to think what the scenes would have been like if Gibbo’s shot had just nestled in the bottom corner which I thought it was going to.”

The result lifted Carlisle back into the third automatic promotion place and maintained their five-point advantage over the Bantams.

Simpson felt his side were on top in the first half without getting off enough shots.

But they were under heavy pressure for long spells in the second as City threw everything at them.

“I think we’ve shown incredible strength of character to hold out the pressure we came under in the second half,” he added.

“I thought we played really well first half. We dominated the ball but didn’t have enough quality in the final third.

“Second half it’s a different type of performance. Bradford have put us under immense pressure but they have defended for their lives.

“They’ve rolled their sleeves up, headed, kicked, defended, they’ve done everything that was necessary - even giving up small professional fouls to kill the flow.

“That shows the desire to want to stay in the game. I think this is a really big point at a tough place to come and it keeps us ticking along nicely.

“I know Bradford were on the back of three draws and weren’t quite getting wins before the game. But this was a tough night and we’ve thoroughly deserved a point out of it.

“They’ve put their bodies on the line and that’s what we want. We’re in a fantastic position.

“We’ve got an opportunity that we probably didn’t expect and we’ve got to try and do things properly and take it.”

Carlisle were missing key centre half Paul Huntington with a minor abdominal tear. But Simpson was full of praise for replacement Ben Barclay as they kept a lid on Andy Cook.

City’s top scorer struck the bar after Morgan Feeney got a crucial deflection on his goal-bound effort in the second half.

“The back three were absolutely outstanding,” said Simpson. “Ben Barclay slotted in like he’d never been away, Morgan Feeney in the middle was excellent and Jon Mellish stuck to his task.

“First half he was marauding down the left, second half he was a bit more restrained just because of the way the game was going.

“They put us right under the cosh. They’ve thrown bodies forward and Cook is a proper handful.

“Then they bring (Vadaine) Oliver on and he was a handful so it was a tough night for us.

“But thankfully we showed that defensive resilience we’ve got. There were a lot of good things.

“They had the lion’s share of it second half and probably could have nicked it. But that one at the end with Gibbo, I really thought it was going in.

“Bradford have fought for their lives and done really well.

“But I think we’ve shown character, personality and real strength of desire to want to keep the ball out the back of the net.

“That takes you a long way when you can do that.”