CITY 2 CREWE 0

SEVEN league games unbeaten, five wins and only three goals conceded during that sequence, and one place below the top six.

It is shaping up as a very fine run of form for Phil Parkinson’s men, although this latest victory was no vintage display.

Then again, it did not need to be.

City were workmanlike and largely dominant throughout but struggled to find a killer touch in front of goal, yet they still outclassed their visitors comprehensively.

Crewe are rock bottom of League One and should really have been taken them to the cleaners.

There remains a concern over City’s lack of goals, but there was no doubting the collective desire of the side.

That unity was evident in the celebrations which marked goals for Gary Liddle and Billy Clarke.

Chances came and were spurned during the first half before Liddle headed home the opening goal in first-half stoppage time from Tony McMahon’s free-kick.

Thirteen minutes after the restart, Clarke produced a fine piece of individual skill to create the space inside the penalty box to squeeze a shot past Crewe goalkeeper Ben Garratt.

From there, the floodgates might have opened against a Crewe side struggling for confidence and wobbling alarmingly.

That did not happen but a rain-soaked Parkinson could reflect on a thoroughly good afternoon’s work from his men at a soggy Valley Parade.

“We’re pleased with the run we’ve been on, the strength of character in the side and the professionalism we are showing, but we’ve got to keep it going,” said Parkinson.

“We had a poor 45 minutes last week against Aldershot and we could have been punished for it.

“We we had the intensity back in our play with everybody closing down and doing their job for the team, first and foremost. We got rewarded with an excellent win.

“That’s what we’ve been about at Bradford – pulling together and working hard for each other because it’s so important.

“Everyone did that today, including all three subs who came on.

“We’ve got a good spirit in the dressing room and it has taken a while to foster that because we’ve had a lot of new players. But you can really start seeing it now.”

The rain fell all afternoon but the miserable weather was not matched by the mood of the home faithful, who headed home delighted after seeing their side move ever closer to the top six.

It is also worth remembering the number of players missing on Saturday for whatever reason: James Meredith, Lee Evans, Reece Burke, Paul Anderson, Filipe Morais and Steven Davies.

Goodness knows what City might be capable of when their squad is back to something approaching full strength, but their run of form certainly bodes well for the weeks and months ahead.

The absence of Meredith due to his international commitments with Australia meant that Greg Leigh made his league debut for City at left back.

Leigh spent last season on loan at Crewe and looked a real prospect on Saturday, often overlapping with Kyel Reid down the left flank and providing an additional attacking threat.

Nathan Clarke also came into the side and did not put a foot wrong either.

Parkinson called their introduction to the side seamless, which said much for their performances.

McMahon impressed on the right flank and City should have led in the seventh minute after his shot was parried by Garratt.

The ball fell to Clarke and he cut the ball back across the six-yard box to Hanson, who could only fire wide when he should have hit the target.

Two minutes later, Ben Williams parried a swerving long-range shot from Bradden Inman but the hosts continued to push for a breakthrough.

Hanson, who suffered an early head injury which he quickly recovered from, then nodded over a superb right-wing cross from Billy Knott.

Hanson saw a shot deflected wide and Knott’s piledriver was pushed away by Garratt before Liddle went close with an acrobatic volley that was deflected over for another corner.

When Clarke sidefooted Reid’s left-wing cross wide with the interval fast approaching, the first half seemed certain to finish goalless.

But in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, McMahon swung in a fine free-kick from the left channel and Liddle rose to plant a downward header which squeezed past Garratt at his near post.

Liddle celebrated his first goal of the season with gusto and after the restart, Clarke and Reid put in dangerous crosses which no City player could finish off.

But as the hour mark approached, Clarke showed delightful footwork to outfox the Crewe defence and create the space to cut inside and fire a low left-foot shot past Garratt.

The Irishman ran to the City bench to celebrate with the medical team who helped him back to fitness during his time on the sidelines.

Parkinson reserved special praise for Clarke after he scored City’s first league goal in open play for well over a month.

He said: “I thought Billy was great. When you play a team like Crewe, you know you will see plenty of the ball and Billy Clarke is a player who will find little pockets of space and give the opposition’s midfield problems.

“He was excellent and he’s got that creative spark in him. I was so pleased he got his rewards with that goal.

“We had a lot of chances in the first and you do get a bit concerned when they don’t go in.

“But I thought the lads showed tremendous patience with the way we passed the ball and kept switching the play.”

Inman, meanwhile, rattled the bar for Crewe with a fine shot in the 64th minute and a goal for the visitors at that point might have made things interesting.

Probably not, though, as City never looked in any real danger.

Reid, Hanson and Clarke all had chances for a third Bradford goal and substitute Devante Cole’s low right-foot shot forced a smart save from Garratt at his near post late on.

Burke, meanwhile, will be available to face Aldershot on Wednesday but Meredith and Evans remain absent due to international commitments with Australia and Wales respectively.