City 1, Barnsley 0

THE verdict on City's season will point to one glaring home truth – the anaemic record at Valley Parade.

For the first time since they were relegated to the bottom tier in 2007, the Bantams will end a campaign with more defeats on their own patch than victories.

Nine losses – and only 26 goals scored – hardly do justice to the second-biggest crowds in the division behind Sheffield United.

At least Saturday delivered the win that mattered on such a sensitive occasion. And with Sunday's trip to Crewe remaining, it put them on course for a highest league finish for over a decade since dropping out of the Championship.

The season's biggest days at Valley Parade have been exclusively reserved for the cups – think Leeds, Millwall, Sunderland and Reading.

City's best league moments have pretty much all been on the road. Scan the seven names above them – Swindon was the only place where they left empty-handed.

Nobody else has managed to win at Preston. MK Dons were an equally impressive scalp on their travels, as well as Chesterfield and Rochdale.

That six-point gap to the last play-off spot is purely down to the lack of return on their own manor.

But progress has clearly been made from this time last year. The present Bradford City look equipped to go forward with the right additions; their predecessors were a side who had reached their natural shelf life.

This team have gained a reputation for generally delivering on the big stage. Given all that surrounded this weekend – not just here but across the country – they had dared not come up short.

From the moment the final whistle had sounded at Scunthorpe the previous Tuesday, Phil Parkinson had made them well aware of what the final home game meant to the city as a whole. But the players already knew.

Several of the squad had visited the Alhambra Studio to watch the emotive play based on recollections from fire survivors. The team could not fail to appreciate the heavy emotion that hung over the stadium.

There was also a certain Roy Hodgson in the audience, the England manager deliberately taking a break from his usual diet of Premier League football to pay his respects for the fire victims in person.

Fittingly, the goal that won the game was an all-English affair; made in Essex and, appropriately, finished by a lad from West Yorkshire.

As one fan pointed out on Twitter, Hodgson won't have seen so many Englishmen on the same pitch in the Premier League.

Jon Stead's strike was far and away the highlight of a scrappy, bitty affair. Billy Knott angled a peach of a ball beyond the far post where Stead stretched to meet it with a volley back past goalkeeper Adam Davies.

It was a sumptuous way to end a three-game Valley Parade goal drought for his team – and get the on-loan frontman back on the scoresheet for the first time in over a month.

Like City, Stead's form has dipped of late from the powerful displays that highlighted their mid-season charge. But Saturday presented a much more convincing case of why Parkinson is pressing ahead to get him signed for good.

Skipper Stephen Darby said: "Steady runs his blood to water for us. He's been terrific. He's a great character, a brilliant lad and you can see why he's played at the top level for a number of years."

Parkinson raved afterwards about the quality of the cross – "the pass of the day" – from Knott. But it was a frustrating afternoon for the bubbly midfielder.

He almost tries too hard at times and, at one stage in the second half, Parkinson had to be cajoled back off the pitch by goalkeeping coach Lee Butler as he attempted to stop Knott beating himself up over another wayward ball.

City v Barnsley match pictures

Parkinson said: "Knotty didn't have his greatest game but sometimes he gets too frustrated with himself when he's not playing well. But he's created the goal with the pass of the day.

"That's what Billy has got in his locker and he's done it for us many times this season. Strikers love playing with him because he does look forward and he does look to hit that killer pass.

"In the second half, he gave the ball away but as I said to him after the game, 'don't be so hard on yourself'.

"He's just got to keep getting the ball and keep playing. He's a great character, has had a good first season for us and he'll get better and better."

Unfortunately, that was as good as the game got. Barnsley flooded the midfield with five players behind lone striker Jabo Ibehre, who never looked like repeating the demolition job he had performed in Oldham colours six months earlier.

That was one of two wins Lee Johnson had already claimed against City this season before taking the Barnsley helm, coupled with the double that dad Gary achieved with doomed Yeovil. So at least the Bantams were able to put that family curse to bed.

With the extra numbers clogging up the middle, the Tykes saw a lot of the ball but did little with it. They looked like a side without a win in nine and primed to be ripped apart and rebuilt by their new manager once the last ball has been kicked.

For City, Gary Liddle teamed up well with Andrew Davies in the central defensive role he retained from the second half at Glanford Park.

As he has pointed out, it's a position he played extensively for Notts County – and prompted Parkinson to surprisingly allow Gary MacKenzie to leave the building.

Liddle's regular midfield holding job went to Tony McMahon, who furthered his chances of landing a contract with another busy display. His set-piece taking carried on the good work from Scunthorpe and deserved more end product.

Chris Routis, who was not as effective beside him, nearly made it two soon after Stead's opener but his shot from James Hanson's cutback deflected just wide.

Barnsley had the better of the few chances after the break. Luke Berry scuffed off target from 15 yards and youngster Mason Holgate found the side-netting after Ben Williams was briefly blocked off in a melee.

But City saw it out for an overdue victory and the players could take their lap of appreciation for a memorable season – if not at home – in good spirits.

Attendance: 15,560