Oxford United 1 Bradford City 1

 Lump all those 89 goals together and they still won’t come close to the five-yarder that Ross Hannah poached on Saturday.

The 25-year-old arrived as City’s first summer signing with a big reputation in smaller circles after scoring a shed-load in two phenomenal seasons with Matlock.

But nothing could prepare him for the moment he opened his account in the professional ranks.

Robbie Threlfall’s free-kick was flicked on by Luke Oliver and there he was, on his own, to whip the loose ball home from close range.

Hannah is up and running for City.

“I can’t describe how relieved I feel,” he said. “As a striker, you’re judged on goals because that’s your job.

“I’ve not had the pre-season that I’d have liked. I’ve not had many chances to score.

“You’ve got to keep believing in yourself, which I have done, and it was great to see that ball go in.

“I felt it was going to happen. I knew Luke was going to win the header and that’s why I gambled.

“We’ve worked on things like that in training and it’s great to see it pay off on the pitch.”

Hannah has already become hugely popular with the fans, who love his enthusiasm for the club which clearly shows in his regular tweets to the City masses.

So he made sure they savoured the euphoria of that breakthrough strike by changing the direction of his lap of honour to sprint towards the 412 away supporters.

“The fans have been brilliant and I’ve had so much backing from everywhere. That’s made it more frustrating that the first goal has taken so long to come.

“But if somebody had told me that I’d go all pre-season without one and then score in the first week, I’d have taken that all day long.

“We’re a new team so it’s going to take us a while but to come to somewhere like Oxford and grind out a point is a sign of a good side.”

To add insult to injury for the hosts, Oxford boss Chris Wilder was among those who had checked out Hannah in his non-league days but was not convinced.

How he was left to rue that decision when the substitute popped up 12 minutes from the end of a curious encounter.

Up to that point, it looked like Oxford had done enough to secure their first win.

Martin Hansen, recalled to City’s goal as part of the loan agreement with Liverpool, had not been over-troubled. His handling and command of the box was much improved on the previous week against Aldershot.

But he had been beaten just before the half hour by Simon Heslop’s precise 25-yarder. Guy Branston’s clearing header was weak and the defence were slow to close down the loose ball, allowing Heslop time and space to pick his spot.

Oxford rarely threatened to add to that slender lead despite enjoying plenty of the ball. Most of their possession was in front of the City back four.

The visitors, though, only looked a danger at set-pieces. Sticking with the 4-3-3 that served them so well at Elland Road, wide men Mark Stewart and Jack Compton found themselves spending too much of the game in their own half tracking Oxford’s marauding full backs.

City’s first-half chances had both stemmed from free-kicks. Michael Flynn battered the first through the wall to force a frantic one-handed save from Ryan Clarke; then Threlfall curled another on to the roof of the netting.

Otherwise, they struggled to make inroads as an attacking force, with James Hanson left marooned on his own.

Peter Jackson needed to shake things up and his second-half substitutions did just that.

Nialle Rodney’s arrival for the ineffective Hanson gave Oxford different problems to think about. The youngster injected a bit of pace and also showed he was prepared to mix it with Jake Wright and the old warhorse Michael Duberry.

You can already see why City were so excited to snap him up.

Michael Bryan, too, showed immediate promise on the right wing. Straight away he looked to get wide on the ball and whip a cross in.

And then there was Hannah with his golden first touch on the pitch; a proper poacher’s finish to reward City’s extra endeavour.

There were still 12 tricky minutes to negotiate after the equaliser. Oxford’s late charge revived scary flashbacks of the ridiculously one-sided encounter on City’s last visit to the Kassam in January.

Oxford forced corner after corner but the pink shirts held firm. Oliver, who was excellent deputising for the injured Steve Williams, produced the afternoon’s best tackle to thwart Jon-Paul Pittman on the edge of the area and Guy Branston made a captain’s block to get in the way of a late, late cross in the goalmouth.

City and Hannah had made their point. Both are off the mark with the hope of plenty more to come.

* You can now follow Simon Parker on Twitter at: twitter.com/ParkeronBantams