Bradford City 1, Sheffield Wednesday 1: Like the plot from an Agatha Christie re-run, the Butler did it once again.

In City's eyes, they were denied their first win over Sheffield Wednesday since 1977 by the actions of referee Alan Butler.

The Stoke official's decision to send off Jamie Lawrence left Nicky Law and Co spitting feathers. Especially when Wednesday grabbed an equaliser in the scramble which followed the resulting free-kick.

Remember, there is previous when it comes to Butler and City.

He was the referee who gave the last-minute penalty which cost them a point at Watford just before Christmas. And fans with longer memories may recall the spot-kick he gave for Norwich in stoppage time during the promotion campaign.

Law made a bee-line for Butler as soon as the final whistle sounded. Although fearing trouble from the authorities, he wisely kept a lid on it after the game.

"I don't think the players made it a feisty game," he said, when asked about the five yellows and Lawrence's red card. "I think that was done by somebody else. But I've got to be careful what I say."

At half-time, Butler was jeered off the pitch by the noisy ranks of Sheffield Wednesday fans. Come the final whistle, it was City's turn - so perhaps the referee can say he balanced things out.

His whistling grew more frequent as the night wore on and a match that began with a bang ended in stop-start, bitty fashion with both sides lumping it long in between the many free-kicks.

City started as if they wanted it done and dusted by half-time. Ashley Ward lit the fuse after 90 seconds with a superb turn and burst from halfway before clobbering a 25-yarder which keeper Paul Evans never saw as it crashed against the join of his right-hand post and bar.

Ward, perhaps miffed at having the winner at Derby chalked off his account, was in the mood to make amends and proceeded to do everything - except score.

Andy Gray, expected to be named in Scotland's Euro 2004 qualifying squad this afternoon, was back to his sharpest form as the pair tore Wednesday open time after time.

Ward clipped the post with one header from a Gray cross and sent another into the grateful arsm of Evans - who once had a brief spell on loan with City from Leeds.

When another header thudded over the bar from a corner, Ward must have wondered if it would ever go in.

But City got their reward just after the half hour when Claus Jorgensen's powerful surge from the left wing was too much for Ashley Westwood. The former Bantams defender gave him a push and referee Butler made 3,500 of the 14,500 crowd very unhappy by pointing to the spot.

Gray paused on the way to coolly slotting the penalty in the opposite corner to the diving Evans and a third win in ten days looked well on the way.

Unfortunately at that point City may have believed the hard work had been done. They were so much on top that complacency started to creep in and Wednesday inched their way into contention for the first time.

Lewis Emanuel limped off in the 53rd minute forcing Law to reshuffle his formation as Michael Standing came on. And as Wednesday began to take a grip, he switched things round once again.

Wednesday's half-time sub Simon Donnelly, injured for the past eight weeks, bent a shot against Aidan Davison's left post and the visitors started to match the enthusiasm and passion shown by their fantastic support.

City were losing the plot as Butler flashed the yellow cards and Lawrence became the fourth name in the book for crunching Donnelly.

Ward had suffered a cut eye early on and was forced off midway through the half with a whack in the ribs from Dean Smith. The battering-ram striker deserved his standing ovation.

Danny Forrest came on but by now most of the play was focussed on the City half as Wednesday poured forward towards the bank of their fans in the Bradford End.

Wednesday's approach play was slick but their panicky finishing smacked of a side on the bottom of the table.

Then they got the break with nine minutes left. Lawrence went up for a header with Paul McLaren and caught him with his arm.

It looked as though Butler's only action would be to award a free-kick. But after a strong protest by Danny Maddix, perhaps seeking retribution from his harsh red card in the fixture at Hillsborough in October, Lawrence was hauled over and pointed towards an early bath.

City were raging and fatally dropped their guard.

Westwood looped a header against the bar from Smith's free-kick and when Claus Jorgensen failed to get the loose ball clear, McLaren bobbled a shot goalwards where makeshift centre-forward Tony Crane nudged it past Davison.