Port Vale 1 City 2

NOBODY was actually saying the words but the message was crystal clear. This was the first game in 'must win' territory for the Bantams.

One side with only two wins in their previous 19 attempts – and none since the turn of the year. But the other, when you boil down all the 'what ifs' and 'if onlys', had claimed just three victories in their last 14 games.

No wonder Stuart McCall had talked beforehand about doing whatever it takes to get over the line with the three points. That coded 'must win' call ahead of a fixture which had finished in stalemate in four of the past five meetings.

So it was hardly surprising that McCall spoke of an overwhelming sense of relief after his side came through their now customary second-half dip to pick themselves up again and claim a first win since Oldham.

Another narrow away success to go with that three points at Boundary Park and similar wins against Northampton and Chesterfield. Not one for the personal scrapbook – unless you are Alex Jones – but a hugely-needed boost as the play-off frenzy begins to kick up a gear.

In a week that saw the Premier League champions bin their manager, nobody needs reminding about football's constant desire for the here and now. You're only as good as the last result in this game.

City's six-month grip on a play-off position, which had seemed a cast-iron guarantee for so long, had been loosened to the point where a couple of clubs could have jumped ahead with another failure.

And while nothing has been decided on the back of this one result, it will have gone some way to soothing the growing number of furrowed brows in the Bantams fraternity.

We've all got as tired of hearing the "hard luck" stories as McCall and his players will be at constantly trotting them out. There is a finite limit to the number of near-misses before you have to hold your hand up and admit it wasn't meant to be.

So the joy of Jones as he disappeared into the away end will have been echoed by everyone.

The pressure would have ratcheted up ahead of these two forthcoming home games if City had been pegged back yet again. Instead, the Vale victory can be viewed as a real launch-pad for the club to celebrate a year unbeaten at Valley Parade in style.

The manager should also take credit for the substitutions that both played a part in restoring a lead that seemed to be headed down the same slippery slope as previous weeks.

With no Mark Marshall to exploit the league's widest pitch, McCall had instead concentrated his artillery through the middle. He restored top scorer Jordy Hiwula to the front two, with Billy Clarke given licence to roam in behind.

The job of filling the vast flanks of Vale Park was given to the ever-willing Tony McMahon and James Meredith.

It should have worked. The fact that City claimed the win after McCall went all-guns-blazing in almost 4-2-4 fashion does not disguise the number of big chances that had been carved out earlier.

The fact that they were all wasted summed up the season so far in a nutshell. McCall looked an increasingly haunted figure on the touchline as opportunity constantly knocked – and went begging.

Clarke influenced City on the ball but his finishing boots, not for the first time, deserted him.

Meredith and Nicky Law combined for one he put just wide; Charlie Wyke, who looked a bit jaded from the after effects of 'man flu', pulled back for another he wasted over the bar.

Clarke was not alone. Josh Cullen shaved a post with a first-time curler and Hiwula seemed to forget what to do when he latched on to a long ball ahead of a back-pedalling keeper.

Vale's early spark, which saw Colin Doyle in first-minute action to turn away Kiko's blaster, had fizzled out as the game adopted an oh-so-familiar theme.

For once, McCall had been banking on a height advantage at set-pieces against a Vale side forced into playing Danny Pugh as a makeshift centre half.

The swirling wind made accuracy a real test but McMahon got it spot on with a free-kick just before the break and Romain Vincelot, a commanding figure in midfield, nodded past his marker Nathan Smith.

A goal to the good going into the interval, what could possibly go wrong?

Fleetwood and Bolton loomed large in the thoughts as McCall warned his side about the danger of sitting back on their lead – but they came out second best in the second half.

Vale, as desperate for the points in their growing fight against the drop, threw bodies forward as the balance of power shifted.

Doyle denied them a freak equaliser with a stunning save after Rory McArdle's challenge on Anton Forrester ricocheted towards his own net.

But Vale were soon back on terms, with another goal that is likely to spark a training-ground inquest with the match video.

City's worrying trait of late to ship poor goals continued when they failed to clear their lines. Law was the chief culprit, giving the ball back to Forrester inside the box and his cross was bundled in by JJ Hooper.

McCall reacted by throwing on Alex Gilliead and the young winger's pace injected new life into the visitors.

After five games out with a hip injury, Jones had not even been in his thinking until an impressive finishing session at training on Thursday offered a timely nudge.

McCall felt he was fit enough to give 20 minutes – the striker needed under two to make the impact he craved.

His presence did not go down well with a fractious Vale crowd who have not forgiven him for rejecting the chance to turn his successful loan move there into a permanent one when he opted for City.

The boos at his arrival were still hanging in the air when Cullen drilled a pass into the acres of space on the right flank. Gilliead's motor got him on the end of it and Jones was in there for the cross which he converted at the second attempt.

Vale protested that he used a hand to control the ball but Jones, by this point, had dived into a jubilant mass of City bodies behind the goal. He is off and running and his team, hopefully, are back on track.

Attendance: 4,953