City 3, Coventry 1

THERE was a moment just before half-time when play was halted for Nathaniel Knight-Percival to burst two claret and amber balloons that had blown onto the pitch.

It looked a fitting image at the end of 45 minutes that had done their best to puncture the bubbling optimism around Valley Parade.

Any hope – and hype – that had been built around back-to-back away wins seemed to be seeping away in the grey gloom.

City, to be frank, were lucky to be only a goal adrift of a Coventry side who had bossed matters from the opening kick-off.

But fast forward an hour and the place was in full carnival mode after a stirring fightback had rounded off a wonderful week. The right team had bagged another three points to maintain their fast start.

So we have learned that this newfangled side not only knock the ball around well, they also possess a bit of backbone and fighting spirit.

And as the players make the most of that extra day off that had been promised them regardless of Saturday's outcome, they do so from a position of strength in the fledgling League One table.

Third place and two points behind Phil Parkinson's Bolton – the only 100 per centers in the three divisions – represents a cracking start for a team still familiarising themselves with one another and missing key members.

Of course, nothing is won in August, as the saying goes. Ten points from the first four games is City's best start since 1997 – when Chris Kamara's side eventually finished 13th and he was sacked in the January.

After four games last year, the Bantams were third bottom with only two draws and that campaign did not work out too badly.

These are very early days. Yet that should not dampen down the feel-good factor that is swelling on and off the pitch following a difficult summer.

Another positive outcome had looked a remote possibility at the interval. Coventry had clearly done their homework to close City down and force mistakes with their passing out of defence – and there were plenty of those in the opening exchanges.

The Sky Blues swarmed all over their hosts, who found themselves penned in their own half.

In Burnley teenager Daniel Agyei, Coventry had a powerhouse forward that City were lacking. The central defensive pairing of Knight-Percival and Romain Vincelot, usually operating in a classy cruise control, were dragged out of their comfort zone for a while by his physical menace.

Kyel Reid, meanwhile, was well on top of Mark Marshall in the battle of the wingers; at that stage anyway.

So Coventry's opener surprised nobody. Danny Devine had his pocket picked by Ben Stevenson and the ball was threaded through the middle for Agyei to dink past Colin Doyle and make it a goal-scoring senior debut.

Reid had already been foiled by the City keeper in a one-on-one and was then clipped right on the edge of the box by Josh Cullen, a matter of inches from a penalty.

Without the outlet of James Hanson, the Bantams were struggling to relieve the pressure and make the ball stick. They had managed only one shot by the break.

Stuart McCall could have been excused for smashing up the crockery in the dressing room but he chose to talk about game management. If it's not working, don't keep trying to do the same thing.

He urged City to start playing higher up the pitch and the message was taken to heart – but not before Tony McMahon, one of the few to have done himself justice in that first half, delivered the tackle of the match on Reid.

The timing of his penalty-box lunge was spot on – it had to be – as his former team-mate shaped to pull the trigger. It was as key a turning point as the sending off and penalty that soon followed.

Vincelot, who had bounced a header against the top of the bar, then slotted the perfect pass for Billy Clarke to run behind the Coventry back four – something he had not been able to do before the break.

Jordan Turnbull, one of Coventry's three centre halves, was the wrong side and bundled him down and the debutant was left staring at Nigel Miller's red card. It was the correct call, even under the new rule change, because the defender had made no effort to win the ball.

McMahon smashed in the penalty and the Bantams were back in business. So too were the crowd, now in full voice after their earlier muted state – and the decibels soon soared with Marshall's spectacular second.

Encouraged by McMahon, Marshall drifted in off the right wing and found space to drill a 25-yard rocket into the bottom corner. It was a sensational way to answer the training-ground ribbing from McCall for not making the most of his shooting opportunities up to now.

Coventry were dumb-struck by the sudden turn of events and their dazed condition only increased as City made it three goals in the space of nine minutes.

Penalties are just like buses. You wait ages for one to come along – remember Parkinson's regular complaints about Valley Parade officials turning a blind eye – and then two arrive in quick succession.

Again there was no argument from Coventry as Vladimir Gadzhev clearly impeded Cullen. So once more McMahon stepped up, this time firing into the roof of the net to take over the top-scorer mantle.

Unfortunately his involvement only lasted another ten minutes. A dead leg suffered in a clash with Reid became a torn muscle in his thigh as he shaped to cross, an injury that will put him out at least a month.

That will be a significant blow for McCall and not just because they do not have a recognised replacement for right back with Stephen Darby still a way off.

McMahon has typified the character and drive of this team and his presence will be missed.

He should have had the chance of a hat-trick of penalties when Lewis Page clearly appeared to use his arm to keep out Marshall's follow-up after Reice Charles-Cook had parried from Clarke. But Miller chose to give Coventry a break.

They were already broken by that point by a transformed City.