Lincoln City 0, Bradford City1: Richard Sutcliffe at Sincil Bank

It may not win a prize in any Goal of the Season competition, but it was a moment Isaiah Rankin will never forget.

Bradford City's record £1.3 million signing had been suffering a frustrating night in front of goal against a dogged and determined Lincoln side.

Rankin had twice used his pace to get behind the Imps defence, only for a desperate late challenge to deny him at the vital moment. The 20-year-old had also seen Lincoln goalkeeper John Vaughan knocked off his feet while blocking a fierce 20-yard drive and, as in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Watford, Rankin looked like going home with nothing to show for an encouraging performance.

However, that all changed in the 73rd minute when his tenacity and never-say-die spirit finally paid off to book City's place in the second round of the Worthington Cup.

John Dreyer had floated a fine ball to the right flank, where Peter Beagrie rose high to head the ball into the Imps' penalty area. Even at this stage, there appeared little danger as Lincoln's giant defender Kevin Austin looked set to deal with the ball.

This did not deter Rankin as he raced into the box to close down Austin and his persistence paid off when the defender got into an almighty tangle with his goalkeeper near the penalty spot.

The ever-alert Rankin promptly nipped in and slid the winner into the net to prompt joyous scenes in the away enclosure housing 578 travelling fans.

In truth, it was no more than the Bantams deserved after dominating long spells of an intriguing game.

City had only managed a 1-1 draw in the home leg seven days earlier, and it was clear in the opening 20 minutes that the Second Division side fancied their chances of completing a big upset.

In fact, after the Bantams had looked bright in the opening five minutes, the next quarter of an hour belonged to Lincoln.

They twice went close to grabbing the all-important first goal of the night when Gary Walsh and then the crossbar denied Leo Fortune-West.

However, these and a late chance for Tony Battersby apart, it was the Bantams who were in control.

And much of this domination was due to a terrific display from midfielder Gareth Whalley.

Always available when a team-mate was in possession, Whalley used the ball well and rarely wasted it in a performance which was comfortably his best since moving to Valley Parade in a £600,000 deal this summer.

City appeared to have learnt their lesson from the first leg, with their most dangerous spells coming when playing the ball along the ground.

Central to this neat approach work, and particularly in the first half, was Gareth Grant. The teenager opened up the Lincoln defence countless times down the left, but City could not capitalise on his good approach play.

The only downside for City going forward was the tremendous number of chances they were again guilty of squandering.

However, Rankin and Lee Mills illustrated that they could prove to be a very successful partnership, with former Port Vale man Mills a constant thorn in the side of the imposing home defence.

At the back, both Darren Moore and Andy O'Brien were pillars of strength, and right back Jamie Lawrence put in a superb all-round performance.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.