City thank Evans

A design along the lines of "I was there at Portman Road" should sell like hot cakes around the city.

About 9.30 last night, you could almost hear the sound of 1,000 or so betting slips being ripped to shreds as the Bantams claimed a memorable first win of the season. What a venue to break the duck.

But don't be fooled into thinking it was some kind of smash-and-grab affair with a couple of nicked goals and lots of desperate resistance.

Nicky Law's unlikely lads were full value for their win and could have scored more than the two absolute belters that flew into Andy Marshall's net.

If you weren't there - then shame on you. But make sure you grab a copy of the match video which the club are bound to rush out for immediate sale.

The goals alone were worth the 450-mile round trip.

Paul Evans has enjoyed some week - a Welsh cap in Croatia, a call-up for the Euro 2004 opener in Finland and now a first goal in Division One.

The little midfielder, who is getting better with each performance, has already shown a real knack from free-kicks. He was due one to fly in - and what a time to deliver.

With City trailing to Darren Bent's cleverly-worked opener, it would have been easy to crumble. Leicester, remember, were level 1-1 at half-time in Ipswich's previous home game before being hit for six.

But City - and Evans - were having none of it. When Ashley Ward was bundled over 25 yards from the Ipswich goal, it was bang in Evans territory.

Uncannily, it was virtually from the same spot and in the same minute that Benito Carbone had fired home a cracker when the Bantams last visited these parts. Seventeen months on and another No 10 stepped up and sent a free-kick soaring over the wall and beyond the despairing lunge of Marshall.

Evans nearly sealed a heavyweight personal performance with an even better long-range thunderbolt in the second half. This time he was a good 40 yards out but let fly with a bazooka-style boot which Marshall tipped on to his crossbar.

But if Ipswich reckoned they had got away with it, they were soon proved wrong. Evans was this time the creator with a pass in to Michael Proctor just outside the penalty area.

The on-loan Sunderland striker still had plenty to do with his back to goal and Danish under-21 international Thomas Gaardsoe breathing down his neck. But with one deft turn, he left the Dane in his wake and a firm shot across goal had Marshall well beaten.

Proctor said: "With 20 minutes to go I said to Ashley Ward that I felt we could still nick another goal. The way we were playing, we always fancied our chances of scoring more.

When the final whistle sounded, Proctor disappeared in a bear hug from Ward. If this really is the end of the tunnel - and the pay roll is due to kick in again later this week - then they were entitled to celebrate it like a cup final.

With no Tom Kearney and Robert Molenaar, Law had reshuffled his cards once again. Mark Bower came in at centre-half and Proctor up front with Danny Cadamarteri slipping back into midfield.

It is not a natural role for him but Cadamarteri's willingness to charge up and down, tracking back in alien positions in his own penalty area, typified the team work ethic. Even against the livewire Darren Ambrose, who is tipped to be a fantastic talent, Cadamarteri stuck doggedly to his task.

The game plan was to smother the midfield and force Ipswich into punting long hopeful balls over the top, where they were mopped up by Bower, Peter Atherton and Andy Myers.

It worked a treat apart from in the 14th minute when Bent, who idolises Ian Wright, notched a poacher's goal the Arsenal legend would have proudly claimed as one of his own.

The home fans sat back for the goal feast that had been tipped in the local papers where local soccer dignitaries like Kevin Beattie had predicted 4-0.

But instead it was City who came punching back like a wound-up boxer. Cadamarteri wastefully scorned a free shot from ten yards before Evans made no mistake from over double that distance.

Matt Holland, cheered enthusiastically by fans so grateful he is still at Ipswich, saw a pot-shot kept out by Aidan Davison and then Marshall bettered that save with a one-handed effort to frustrate Proctor. Anything Ipswich could do, City were matching.

Davison denied Marcus Stewart, while Cadamarteri shot into the side-netting. And then Proctor sent the noisy travelling army of fans in the Cobbold Stand into raptures.

As time ticked away, Ipswich threw everything forward to find an equaliser. Ambrose set up Stewart who headed against the top of the bar before both somehow combined to miss from five yards in the fourth and final minute of added time.

The Ipswich duo were lurking totally unmarked as a high ball dropped beyond Davison. But as Stewart allowed it to run through to the better-placed midfielder, Gus Uhlenbeek somehow stretched a leg far enough over to deny his old team and block the goal-bound shot.

"I don't know how I got there but I wasn't going to let it go in," smiled the Dutchman. "After all we had done, they weren't going to score at the end."