CITY fell short in Fleetwood yesterday, as a 1-0 away defeat saw them slip outside the League Two play-off places.

T&A sports reporter NATHAN ATKINSON was at Highbury Stadium and provides the match stats and his player ratings.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Lewis Richards was playing out of position at left centre-back, yet he hardly put a foot wrong defensively and combined well in attack with Bobby Pointon and Clarke Oduor after the break.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

City never recovered from conceding a soft penalty in the first 10 minutes, which Matty Virtue after going over Andy Cook’s dangling leg. Ronan Coughlan rolled it home for what turned out to be a very early winner.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

The Bantams were miles off the pace in the opening 20 minutes, and were lucky not to be more than 1-0 behind. They did eventually awake from their slumber, but they were unable to extricate themselves from the mess they had created.

TACTICS

There was much chatter in the press box when the line-up was revealed at around 2pm. Lewis Richards and Brad Halliday played as roaming centre halves either side of Neill Byrne, while Bobby Pointon was shunted to left wing back, with Calum Kavanagh playing behind large and large strike duo Vadaine Oliver and Andy Cook in a rather odd-looking 3-5-2.

It did not really work though, personnel wise, and City instantly looked better when Oliver was hooked for Oduor at the break, the latter going to wing back, Pointon moving centrally, and Jamie Walker pushed further forward in the midfield, with Kavanagh partnering Cook up top instead.

REFEREE: Martin Woods

BOOKINGS: Shaw (Fleetwood); Benn (City)

ATTENDANCE: 3,971 (with 1,068 from City)

SHOTS ON TARGET: Fleetwood 1 City 4

SHOTS OFF TARGET/BLOCKED: Fleetwood 6 City 12               

CORNERS: Fleetwood 6 City 11

FOULS: Fleetwood 9 City 12

POSSESSION %: Tranmere 37 City 63

PLAYER RATINGS

FLEETWOOD: Harrington 7, Johnston 7, Bolton 7, Potter 8, Virtue 6, Mayor 6, Hunt 7, Helm 7 (Broom 84min), Shaw 6, Graydon 6, Coughlan 7 (Harratt 73min). Subs (not used): Hughes, Lonergan, Lynch, Patterson, Odubeko.

CITY: S Walker 6, Halliday 6, Byrne 6, Richards 8, Benn 6, Pointon 7, Smallwood 6, Walker 6, Kavanagh 5 (Sanderson 72min), Oliver 4 (Oduor 46min, 7), Cook 5. Subs (not used): Smith, Huntington, Diabate, Goodman, Doyle.