Bradford City 4, Port Vale 0; Richard Sutcliffe at Valley Parade.

The four-goal margin of victory may have been a convincing one, but it was the manner in which Bradford City swept Port Vale away that must give Bantams fans confidence for the coming weeks.

John Rudge's side arrived with a defensive formation designed to frustrate City by getting as many men behind the ball as possible whenever they were not in possession.

Vale were also intent on unsettling the Bantams, with a physical approach which caused tempers to fray during an untidy first half.

However, these are games where City have to earn victory through sheer hard work and the pleasing aspect for manager Paul Jewell is that his side did just that.

No-one shirked a challenge when some questionable Vale tackles were flying in the opening 45 minutes and when they had the ball, there was no way City were going to be knocked off it.

In midfield where Vale packed five players, both Stuart McCall and Gareth Whalley led the way with some determined tackling, which was ably backed up by both Robbie Blake and Peter Beagrie on the flanks.

Blake and Beagrie also added the polish to City's play going forward with some superb skill and movement which the Vale defence simply could not handle.

When the visiting side are so clearly intent on playing the game on the break, the first goal inevitably proves vital. And that was the case last night.

Vale's Tony Naylor went close after 29 minutes with a fierce shot which clipped the bar, but within two minutes City were ahead when Blake crashed the ball into the roof of the net from 15 yards.

That strike meant the Potteries side had to adopt a more adventurous approach which meant there was space for City to exploit.

With Blake and Beagrie in such impressive form there was only going to be one winner once Darren Moore headed the second goal after 57 minutes.

Beagrie has often been criticised by a section of the City support for not crossing early enough, but last night his delivery was excellent.

Not only did he whip some dangerous balls in from either flank, but he also picked out a team-mate time and time again as was illustrated with City's third goal.

Taking possession on the left flank, Beagrie looked up and drove the type of pinpoint cross which strikers relish and Mills duly took advantage with a fine downward header into the corner of the net.

Mills, who could hardly conceal his delight at scoring against his old club, rounded off a fine night with a simple last minute header from a corner by Whalley which Beesley deflected in.

Mills was well supported by Gordon Watson who gave an all-action display, while the back four deserve a lot of credit as they kept a clean sheet.

Moore continued where he left off in Saturday's victory over Barnsley with a dominant display, while John Dreyer again showed a cool head under pressure.

Wayne Jacobs battled hard at left back to continue his fine recent form, while the accomplished Lee Todd made a welcome return out of position at right back and caught the eye with some timely challenges and fine distribution.

The victory was City's fifth in just 15 days and lifts them into the top half of the First Division table for the first time this season.

And although they travel to Sunderland for potentially their toughest game of the season on Saturday, the fact they have scored 15 goals in their last six outings means they travel to the Stadium of Light full of confidence.

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