Blow for Bradford City ahead of Wembley

7:40am Monday 18th February 2013 in Bantams Photograph of the Author By Simon Parker, Bradford City Reporter

Garry Thompson scores for City before Wimbledon hit back with two late goals Garry Thompson scores for City before Wimbledon hit back with two late goals

Referee Steve Bratt admitted he blundered over the game-winning corner as City stumbled in their last warm-up for Wembley.

Bottom club Wimbledon’s last-gasp victory left a sour taste to begin the build-up to Sunday’s Capital One Cup showpiece with Swansea.

Gary Jones revealed that the official had apologised for getting it wrong over the corner which led to Gary Alexander’s winning header.

Jones said: “It was never a corner. The linesman gave it from the other side of the pitch – there must have been ten bodies in the way.

“I asked the referee at the end of the game and he said he’d made a mistake.

“That doesn’t cushion the blow after losing in the last minute. It was a massive error from the referee but we’ve still got to defend it and then we get a point.”

City looked to be cruising towards back-to-back away wins once Garry Thompson fired them in front. But unlike at Wycombe, they were unable to find a second goal – and were stunned by a late one-two.

Skipper Jones said: “I don’t know how we lost that game. The second half was the most one-sided I’ve played in all season.

“That was probably our best away performance. We were totally in control of the game.

“Thommo scored a great goal and maybe should have scored a second but the pitch had a lot to do with it. The ball wouldn’t sit down for him.

“It’s a massive disappointment because we were in total control.”

Defeat leaves the Bantams still seven points adrift of the League Two play-offs, with a game in hand as they switch focus to the cup final.

Jones said: “Football’s like that. It kicks you when you don’t expect it.

“It would have been brilliant going to Wembley on the back of two wins. That’s not the case.

“But we’ve got to pick ourselves up. There’s no point in dwelling on it now and we’ve got a great week coming up.”

Phil Parkinson denied that Wimbledon’s first home win since October was down to City thinking of Wembley.

The City chief said: “People might say that but it’s totally inaccurate. I thought the lads were magnificent.

“We just needed that extra goal to kill them off but couldn’t get it. I thought they were there for the taking and we should be talking about three points.

“I just felt so confident. I couldn’t see them having a shot, let alone scoring a goal – and they scored two.

“Their corner looked like a goal kick to me. All the players started walking towards the halfway line then the ref appeared to change his mind.

“The fourth official said to him on his mic that he thought he was wrong. But we’ve still conceded two sloppy goals.”

Parkinson also confirmed that Andrew Davies was “fine” after the defender was troubled by a calf spasm in the closing minutes.

Comments(40)

Dancinfeet says...
7:50am Mon 18 Feb 13

League 2 referee in costly blunder shocker! Hold the front page. Story of our season so far!

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cullboy says...
8:12am Mon 18 Feb 13

Isn't Pratt sorry Bratt the ref that said sorry for sending Schumacher off?

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bettyswollocks says...
8:45am Mon 18 Feb 13

Good on him for admitting it but it doesn't give us the point back does it?

It's time the FL took a close look at the standard of refereeing and took action to improve it. There is no excuse for some of the plain idiotic decisions we keep seeing.

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Scargutt2 says...
8:57am Mon 18 Feb 13

It's all part of the story though. Losing to bottom of the league the week before winning the cup and still getting promotion.

At least Swansea had a worse day than us.

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claretstripe says...
9:00am Mon 18 Feb 13

Hi All

Slightly off topic, but three Bradford City supporter friends of mine have teamed up with BCB radio and radio Leeds to record this Bradford City wembly song, They did a live busk with all the money collected going to charity (as will any future funds raised). They will be on radiuo leeds this week to perform this to the leeds fans :-) please can we all give this video a watch to help it go viral and share it with any other Bradford City Fans?

http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=jCRtLspXl
00

CTID

Report this post »

ALEXIMO.56. says...
9:04am Mon 18 Feb 13

It's strange how refs are very appologetic AFTER the game for making the wrong calls. We have 3 officials (assistant referees) If the ref wasn't sure, he should be consulting with his linesman. The report says that the Lino gave the corner but there were 20 players blocking his view, so he was guessing. Like we have all been saying, we need to get out of this league real sharpish and then we will get some decent officials. Going back to the game, we were coasting at 1-0 up with 8min to go and you can't keep blaming the officials all the time. It's upto the players to see that they dont concede very late goals to lose points.

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Plastic Bantam says...
9:11am Mon 18 Feb 13

Regardless of another ref error (that's 4 in the last 5 games) If we want to go up we should be comfortably beating a team bottom of the league and low on confidence.... We need to go unbeaten now until the end of the season (in the league anyway) if we're to have any chance of getting in the playoffs... and I can't see that happening. It made me laugh that there was not 1 yellow card tackle from a city player on Saturday, in this day and age that's unheard of... 2 eyes on the final rather then the usual 1 me thinks!!!

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al&co says...
9:27am Mon 18 Feb 13

The ref was poor all game - very whistle happy.

The corner was an awful decision but the fact of the matter is, as our skipper has said, we were in control and much the better side but the reason we didn't win the game is that we didn't score the goals to kill the game against one of the poorest sides in the league.

We defended poorly in the last ten minutes and yes, we can feel disappointed by the corner award that led to the winner but we should've been out of sght by then.

That said,I think we'll do well at Wembley - everyone will be up for the game like all the other cupties.

Good luck City and to everyone travelling - enjoy the moment because whatever happens it will be special day!

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The SBD says...
9:38am Mon 18 Feb 13

You can't blame the referee all the time. He's human, humans make mistakes, those that didn't did nothing.

Like Gary Jones said you have to defend the set piece.

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locky1667 says...
9:41am Mon 18 Feb 13

From where we stood it looked like we thought we had already won and switched off.Fatal. Don think it will hapen next week IF we are lucky enough to e in the same position.

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Freddy says...
9:48am Mon 18 Feb 13

*
Lets "WASH THESE RESULTS RIGHT OUT OF OUR HAIR"-- and send these League TWO Refs.- on their way!!!.
*
Sunday is going to be a Great Day for Bradford City. Football history for the Club,Competition -and Football per. say.
*
Sunday will be officiated, by hopefully, QUALITY Officials.
If 'Lady Luck' returns to City at Wembley--then it will be OUR DAY.
*
Forget the past league disappointments (and those ref's!). Lets ALL enjoy the day.
NO MORE MOANING
Lets relish in the money The Club has earned, from All these League Cup Matches. A Financial Life Line for. Bradford City AFC. (Somewhere in the region of £2.5 Million.)
THAT- FOR MY WAY OF THINKING, IS A FANTASTIC RESULT FOR THE CLUB!!!.
*

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StaffsBantam says...
9:57am Mon 18 Feb 13

I think 2 shots on target in 90 mins may have had something to do with our defeat.

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Whoisevans? says...
10:17am Mon 18 Feb 13

As someone pointed out it's not his first mistake running a City game both times saying sorry, well "I'm sorry" it's not good enough do the decent thing and resign then!!! I think City have enough of a justification to ask for him to be banned for future games against City.

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allannicho says...
10:19am Mon 18 Feb 13

Bad form old boy eh what!

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Plastic Bantam says...
12:05pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Hopefully some one can help me.....

I ordered my tickets on the 7th and they still haven't arrived yet. Is anybody else in the same boat?

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Bantam sthn Ellatha says...
12:44pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Ref makes big error, cost us a point, we got beat - at the club 92nd in the football league.

OK he made a big mistake but shouldn't we be home and dry at this point?

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

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Prisoner Cell Block A says...
12:58pm Mon 18 Feb 13

StaffsBantam wrote:
I think 2 shots on target in 90 mins may have had something to do with our defeat.
^^^^^ this.

Not the ref, although it obviously did have an impact.

We need to be on the front foot for every remaining league game now. I won't be happy finishing outside the play-offs as this squad really is good enough to finish top three, the cup distraction and amount of games played have obviously impacted too but as a club and squad we have to overcome these hurdles.

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allannicho says...
1:32pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Leaking two goals in the final minutes of play is very bad play in anyones book!

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birstallbantam56 says...
1:40pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Winning the Capital One Cup would be a wonderful achievement, but the main goal has to be promotion from this Mickey Mouse league!!! If we do not achieve promotion this year, and it is looking very likely that we will not, then I'm sorry, but this season is another failure! I do hope I am wrong, and that after Sunday's showpiece the team can focus 100% on the league and have a real go. We need to put a run of wins together which will then breed confidence, maybe we can then hit a run of form at just the right time

Report this post »

tyker2 says...
1:45pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Plastic Bantam wrote:
Hopefully some one can help me.....

I ordered my tickets on the 7th and they still haven't arrived yet. Is anybody else in the same boat?
got ours n time:chase the club but if they were sent ordinary post there is going t be a problem

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Rambo says...
1:49pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Plastic Bantam wrote:
Hopefully some one can help me.....

I ordered my tickets on the 7th and they still haven't arrived yet. Is anybody else in the same boat?
Contact David Baldwin, davidbaldwin@the-ban
tams.co.uk or call the club.

Report this post »

claretstripe says...
3:21pm Mon 18 Feb 13

claretstripe wrote:
Hi All Slightly off topic, but three Bradford City supporter friends of mine have teamed up with BCB radio and radio Leeds to record this Bradford City wembly song, They did a live busk with all the money collected going to charity (as will any future funds raised). They will be on radiuo leeds this week to perform this to the leeds fans :-) please can we all give this video a watch to help it go viral and share it with any other Bradford City Fans? http://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=jCRtLspXl 00 CTID
Thank you to everyone that took time to look at this video. I know spirits are a little mixed following a poor weekend from our point a view.

But we are at Wembly this weekend, lets all go down there support the lads and hope they can make some more history for our club and make our selves heard!!

Lets consentrate on the league again next week, if we win a couple of our games in hand we are right back in it, its a big ask but stanger things have happend...........Br
adford are in a major cup final after all! CTID

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Meat Pie says...
3:24pm Mon 18 Feb 13

The referees are appalling at this level - it was noticeable how good Howard Webb was when he refereed us recently.

4th Division refs often give the impression we have paid to watch them - they are a very, very poor standard at this level.

That being said, you can't blame the referee as we should not be losing to AFC Wimbledon (with respect to them) if we have any hope of getting out of this league.

80 minutes gone and 1-0 up - we should have come away with all 3 points.

This is nowhere near promotion or even play-off form.

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Plastic Bantam says...
3:26pm Mon 18 Feb 13

tyker2 wrote:
Plastic Bantam wrote: Hopefully some one can help me..... I ordered my tickets on the 7th and they still haven't arrived yet. Is anybody else in the same boat?
got ours n time:chase the club but if they were sent ordinary post there is going t be a problem
Weren't they all sent recorded delivery?

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Plastic Bantam says...
3:26pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Rambo wrote:
Plastic Bantam wrote: Hopefully some one can help me..... I ordered my tickets on the 7th and they still haven't arrived yet. Is anybody else in the same boat?
Contact David Baldwin, davidbaldwin@the-ban tams.co.uk or call the club.
Thanks, starting to panic a bit now...

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Michael Clayton says...
3:34pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Plastic Bantam wrote:
Rambo wrote:
Plastic Bantam wrote: Hopefully some one can help me..... I ordered my tickets on the 7th and they still haven't arrived yet. Is anybody else in the same boat?
Contact David Baldwin, davidbaldwin@the-ban tams.co.uk or call the club.
Thanks, starting to panic a bit now...
Do not panic. It is all traceable. Take action though (as Rambo suggested).

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parader no1 says...
3:43pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Meat Pie wrote:
The referees are appalling at this level - it was noticeable how good Howard Webb was when he refereed us recently.

4th Division refs often give the impression we have paid to watch them - they are a very, very poor standard at this level.

That being said, you can't blame the referee as we should not be losing to AFC Wimbledon (with respect to them) if we have any hope of getting out of this league.

80 minutes gone and 1-0 up - we should have come away with all 3 points.

This is nowhere near promotion or even play-off form.
Have you seen Howard Webb refereeing at Old Trafford ? Now thats what you all bias

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mr-mixalot says...
4:05pm Mon 18 Feb 13

The game should have been done and dusted and the players should man up and admit they switched off

I hope to see the boys batter Swansea on Sunday now that I have my ticket

Come on you boys

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Donna03 says...
5:14pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Plastic Bantam wrote:
Rambo wrote:
Plastic Bantam wrote: Hopefully some one can help me..... I ordered my tickets on the 7th and they still haven't arrived yet. Is anybody else in the same boat?
Contact David Baldwin, davidbaldwin@the-ban tams.co.uk or call the club.
Thanks, starting to panic a bit now...
We are also waiting on tickets think city are leaving it extremely late. As season ticket holders they were ordered in plenty of time however still nothing and the club or David Baldwin don't seem to be getting back to us. we have sent emails to the club, wembley, been down to city ticket office and made many phones calls but no one seems to have any information to help sort this out. We should be able to look forward to wembley but instead still wondering if we're going to be there???

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tyker2 says...
5:48pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Plastic Bantam wrote:
tyker2 wrote:
Plastic Bantam wrote: Hopefully some one can help me..... I ordered my tickets on the 7th and they still haven't arrived yet. Is anybody else in the same boat?
got ours n time:chase the club but if they were sent ordinary post there is going t be a problem
Weren't they all sent recorded delivery?
not sure about that as mine were sent elsewhere but still got there:now work that one out!!! save you the trouble I linked with one other who did the donkey work by staying on line or hours on end!! I know he was away when tickets received and,therefore, no one signed for hem!!!

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bigphill says...
5:55pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Hope PP gets some batteries soon for his calculator. Wells scores a goal every 1.55 games, Connell scores a goal every 2.10 games, Hanson (who cannot be faulted for commitment and passion) scores a goal every 4.67 games, based on minutes played up to and including Wycombe away. It's quite likely that we could and should be in the top three right now. I'm perplexed that no serious attempt has been made to maximise the goals for since things started to go wrong in late September. But the other BCFC will be playing on Sunday so let's have a great day!

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tommo99 says...
6:23pm Mon 18 Feb 13

That could be the difference between us going up that point we would have gained officials should be sacked!!

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Whoisevans? says...
7:03pm Mon 18 Feb 13

bigphill wrote:
Hope PP gets some batteries soon for his calculator. Wells scores a goal every 1.55 games, Connell scores a goal every 2.10 games, Hanson (who cannot be faulted for commitment and passion) scores a goal every 4.67 games, based on minutes played up to and including Wycombe away. It's quite likely that we could and should be in the top three right now. I'm perplexed that no serious attempt has been made to maximise the goals for since things started to go wrong in late September. But the other BCFC will be playing on Sunday so let's have a great day!
He would be getting earache from other fans for not dropping him when he did a no show in his previous game. I can understand your annoyed but we have to look at the bigger picture. I have seen Wells perform like a trojan then go missing in other games he needs to realise you have to be committed every game.

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Victor Clayton says...
8:28pm Mon 18 Feb 13

tyker2 wrote:
Plastic Bantam wrote:
tyker2 wrote:
Plastic Bantam wrote: Hopefully some one can help me..... I ordered my tickets on the 7th and they still haven't arrived yet. Is anybody else in the same boat?
got ours n time:chase the club but if they were sent ordinary post there is going t be a problem
Weren't they all sent recorded delivery?
not sure about that as mine were sent elsewhere but still got there:now work that one out!!! save you the trouble I linked with one other who did the donkey work by staying on line or hours on end!! I know he was away when tickets received and,therefore, no one signed for hem!!!
You need to ring city with your booking ref. All the tickets have been sent out registered, so city will give you a ref that the post office will be able to trace.

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Victor Clayton says...
8:33pm Mon 18 Feb 13

birstallbantam56 wrote:
Winning the Capital One Cup would be a wonderful achievement, but the main goal has to be promotion from this Mickey Mouse league!!! If we do not achieve promotion this year, and it is looking very likely that we will not, then I'm sorry, but this season is another failure! I do hope I am wrong, and that after Sunday's showpiece the team can focus 100% on the league and have a real go. We need to put a run of wins together which will then breed confidence, maybe we can then hit a run of form at just the right time
I don't think promotion will happen, so you may as well enjoying Sunday for the brilliant achievement that it is. And come back next season with the usual optimism the start of the season brings.

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bcfcincheshire says...
8:56pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Winning the League Cup significantly contributed towards Birmingham City being relegated in 2011....they performed maximally against Arsenal and then rode on the crest of that wave right to the bottom.....for City the reverse is true......Swansea will probably win but the game is yet to be played....each and every moment yet to take place....the effort will be immense but for this club it will be galvanising.....and seventh will be achieveable.....the players will have tasted Wembley and it will be on offer once again with the momentum if this week and the game itself....history makers and history creaters....believe!

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Cityman23 says...
9:59pm Mon 18 Feb 13

birstallbantam56 wrote:
Winning the Capital One Cup would be a wonderful achievement, but the main goal has to be promotion from this Mickey Mouse league!!! If we do not achieve promotion this year, and it is looking very likely that we will not, then I'm sorry, but this season is another failure! I do hope I am wrong, and that after Sunday's showpiece the team can focus 100% on the league and have a real go. We need to put a run of wins together which will then breed confidence, maybe we can then hit a run of form at just the right time
I'd take winning the League cup and NOT going up BEFORE not winning the League Cup and going up! We can win promotion next season but when will we ever get a chance again to win a national cup trophy?

Report this post »

Victor Clayton says...
10:08pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Cityman23 wrote:
birstallbantam56 wrote:
Winning the Capital One Cup would be a wonderful achievement, but the main goal has to be promotion from this Mickey Mouse league!!! If we do not achieve promotion this year, and it is looking very likely that we will not, then I'm sorry, but this season is another failure! I do hope I am wrong, and that after Sunday's showpiece the team can focus 100% on the league and have a real go. We need to put a run of wins together which will then breed confidence, maybe we can then hit a run of form at just the right time
I'd take winning the League cup and NOT going up BEFORE not winning the League Cup and going up! We can win promotion next season but when will we ever get a chance again to win a national cup trophy?
Hear hear

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Whoisevans? says...
10:24am Tue 19 Feb 13

Victor Clayton wrote:
Cityman23 wrote:
birstallbantam56 wrote:
Winning the Capital One Cup would be a wonderful achievement, but the main goal has to be promotion from this Mickey Mouse league!!! If we do not achieve promotion this year, and it is looking very likely that we will not, then I'm sorry, but this season is another failure! I do hope I am wrong, and that after Sunday's showpiece the team can focus 100% on the league and have a real go. We need to put a run of wins together which will then breed confidence, maybe we can then hit a run of form at just the right time
I'd take winning the League cup and NOT going up BEFORE not winning the League Cup and going up! We can win promotion next season but when will we ever get a chance again to win a national cup trophy?
Hear hear
Whats wrong with winning both we have 15 games left a minimum of 76 points will see a side in the play offs we could if we put a run together get the minor place for automatic promotion if it's the play offs we could be the first club out side the top flight to win twice at Wembley in a season.

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Victor Clayton says...
1:01pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Whoisevans? wrote:
Victor Clayton wrote:
Cityman23 wrote:
birstallbantam56 wrote: Winning the Capital One Cup would be a wonderful achievement, but the main goal has to be promotion from this Mickey Mouse league!!! If we do not achieve promotion this year, and it is looking very likely that we will not, then I'm sorry, but this season is another failure! I do hope I am wrong, and that after Sunday's showpiece the team can focus 100% on the league and have a real go. We need to put a run of wins together which will then breed confidence, maybe we can then hit a run of form at just the right time
I'd take winning the League cup and NOT going up BEFORE not winning the League Cup and going up! We can win promotion next season but when will we ever get a chance again to win a national cup trophy?
Hear hear
Whats wrong with winning both we have 15 games left a minimum of 76 points will see a side in the play offs we could if we put a run together get the minor place for automatic promotion if it's the play offs we could be the first club out side the top flight to win twice at Wembley in a season.
nothing and lets hope we do.

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