Graham Alexander's reaction after Bantams beat Newport

The Bantams beat Newport 3-1 at Valley Parade last night with second-half goals from Jamie Walker and sub Bobby Pointon after Kyle Hudlin had cancelled out Andy Cook’s opener.

It was a first win for five league games and lifted them back up to ninth spot.

Alexander praised his team for “not giving in” during a tough spell of results and injuries.

“It was a bit more like us at our best,” said the City boss.

“I thought the first half was exceptional how we played. We probably deserved more than a 1-0 lead but we were happy with that.

“They came back into it and I thought we enabled that a little bit. We were a bit loose in our possession and turned the ball over a few too many times.

“It was a bit of a blow to be 1-1 because we were so dominant in the first half.

“But the reaction of the players was excellent. The subs who came on contributed to that and looked after the ball better and we scored two high-quality goals.

“I’m delighted for the players because it’s been a tough few weeks for us. But they’ve never given in and showed their spirit – and showed their quality.”

Cook scored his seventh goal of the season, producing good power to head home Jay Benn’s cross.

Alexander added: “He’s almost leaning over the back to get his head round it because the ball was slightly behind him.

“Everyone knows how dangerous Cooky is. He gets a lot of stick in the box and it’s difficult for him to find space.

“But we know if we get good deliveries in there he’s going to be on the end of them.”

Graham Alexander felt City had dominated the first half (Image: Thomas Gadd)

Cook’s goal was his 77th for City on his 150th start – and the striker was delighted to get the win.

“It was massive,” he admitted. “We’ve come off a couple of bad results and needed to put it right at home.”

City dropped off for a spell after half-time before Newport’s equaliser seemed to get them going again.

Alexander added: “You’re always going to get a lull in performance or the opposition come back into it.

“You never dominate for 90 minutes but you have to manage those periods without conceding.

Neill Byrne had to come off with cramp on his return to the side (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“That’s probably been our downfall in the first 20 minutes of games away from home recently. It happened after half-time.

“I don’t think our focus was absolutely spot on but I felt the goal did refocus us and sparked us into the quality we needed.

“We deserved to win the game over the whole piece without a doubt. You don’t always get what you deserve but we made it happen and that’s a great pat on the back for the players.”

Neill Byrne made his return from injury as City switched back to playing three centre-halves but he went off complaining of cramp late in the game.

Alexander confirmed: "I asked Byrner and that's what he said.

"Obviously he went down but he had been fine the minute before because we asked him.
"He said it felt like cramp so fingers crossed that's the case.

"I thought he was top notch. We know Jack (Shepherd) and Cheick (Diabate) are good quality centre halves but they've not got a lot of games between them.

"Bringing in that experienced head would settle them down.

"They are good on their own as individuals but there's a lot of pressure playing for Bradford. Byrner has seen it and done it and I thought he was a real leading light for us."