Derby County 0, Bradford City 1; Richard Sutcliffe reports from Pride Park.

The drained looks on the faces of Bradford City's players at the end of this nail-biting Premiership clash told its own story.

The Bantams had finally chalked up their second victory in the top flight after a hard-fought game which was settled by a second half own goal from defender Horacio Carbonari.

City had given everything and it showed as they went to applaud the marvellous support they had received from the 2,479 Bantams fans, who were celebrating wildly inside the impressive Pride Park.

As the City players walked towards the away enclosure, there was none of the usual high-five celebration and back-slapping which typically marks a victory away from home.

Instead, the odd embrace apart, the whole squad understandably looked very heavy-legged and completely drained by their Herculean efforts in the previous 90 minutes.

City had played two hours of Worthington Cup football at Reading in strength-sapping conditions just three days earlier, but still managed to lift themselves to such an extent that they out-fought a Derby side who have consolidated their place in the top flight since winning promotion in 1996.

Paul Jewell's men again gave everything with dogged determination and a willingness to throw themselves in the path of any shot or pass. And it certainly showed on the faces of the City players when the final whistle blew.

The Bantams had overcome the first half dismissal of Andy Myers with a steely determination which saw them close down Derby at every opportunity.

The Rams started the game in lively fashion, despite their 5-0 hammering at home to Sunderland the previous week.

Employing a 3-5-2 formation, wing-backs Tony Dorigo and Vass Borbokis proved a menace, their pace and clever running off the ball seeing both men regularly get to the goal-line.

Derby's three-man defence also looked solid, and with Seth Johnson tackling as if his life depended on it in midfield, it looked set to be a difficult afternoon for City.

However, Jewell's men reacted in a typically robust manner to knock the home side out of their stride, which eventually led to frustration developing in the Derby ranks.

The centre back pairing of Andy O'Brien and David Wetherall were again magnificent, with their understanding continuing to blossom.

With Derby's wing-backs in such impressive form down each flank in the first half, it was important that Wetherall was at his best in the air, and yet again the former Leeds man did not let his side down.

And after an early-season spell in midfield, where he applied himself very well, O'Brien is back in his best position of centre half, and if he continues this form then a call-up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad cannot be too far away.

The 20-year-old had to leave the field twice in the opening 15 minutes with a bloody nose, but O'Brien showed his bravery by throwing himself into tough challenges the moment he was back on the field.

It became clear as the half progressed that Derby were becoming frustrated by City's dogged display, and this blew up in sensational style in the form of Esteban Fuertes.

Minutes earlier the Bantams had been reduced to ten men when Andy Myers recieved his second booking of the game for a foul on the speedy Borbokis.

However, with Derby still unable to break down City's rock-like defence, Fuertes pushed the ball past Wetherall and out of play before throwing himself to the ground in the penalty area.

The City defender was furious by this blatant dive and confronted Fuertes, who promptly raised his arm to hit Wetherall in the face.

Referee Mark Halsey duly flashed his second red card of the afternoon, and Derby lost the advantage that the erratic official had handed them.

City were more impressive going forward than they had been at Aston Villa the previous week, only for their main failing of wasting possession see them hand the initiative to Derby.

Jewell opted for an attacking line-up with Robbie Blake on the right side of midfield, and Dean Saunders being joined up front by the fit-again Lee Mills.

At Villa, City's main problem had been the huge gap between the strikers and midfield when in possession, which resulted in the forwards being unable to hold on to the ball.

However, against Derby, Gareth Whalley was much more advanced and even came close to grabbing a rare goal after playing a neat one-two with Saunders before hitting a 20-yard shot which troubled Russell Hoult in the Rams' goal.

Myers had also been linking well with Peter Beagrie on the overlap, but once he had been dismissed City's attacking threat down the left subsided slightly, with the former Everton man switching to the back.

Although never fluent going forward, City were rewarded for their hard work when a Gunnar Halle free kick caused problems in the Derby defence and Carbonari nodded past his own goalkeeper to prompt joyous scenes behind that goal.

All of a sudden, the heartbreak of losing at Villa and the slightly fortunate passage into the third round of the Worthington Cup were forgotten.

Just a minute after Carbonari had put through his own net, substitute Kevin Harper smashed a 20-yard shot which looked destined for the top corner of the net until Gary Walsh pulled off a wonderful save.

The City goalkeeper also denied Francesco Baiano and Carbonari with unbelievable saves.

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