City 1 Fleetwood 0

9:39pm Tuesday 21st August 2012 in Bantams Photograph of the Author By Simon Parker, Bradford City Reporter

Match-winner James Hanson makes a nuisance of himself against Fleetwood Match-winner James Hanson makes a nuisance of himself against Fleetwood

City claimed their first win of the new season with a battling performance against big-spending new boys Fleetwood.

The game began in cagey fashion but the first real opportunity fell to City from their opening corner as Hanson ’s header was blocked in front the line by Dean Howell.

Fleetwood were denied by the woodwork when Jon Parkin cleverly released David Ball on goal. The midfield drove over Matt Duke but the shot bounced back off the bar.

City were denied by the same bar at the start of the second half as a first-time shot from Zavon Hines deflected against it.

But City’s strong start to the half got its reward after 59 minutes when Hanson rose to head home a Gary Jones corner.

Nahki Wells was denied by Scott Davies before Fleetwood hit the woodwork once again through sub Andy Mangan.

Davies denied Kyel Reid a second but City, for whom Nathan Doyle was outstanding in centre midfield, were worth the three points.

Comments(47)

beardedclam says...
9:40pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Cannot wait for Shaun from Richmond's "deadbeat" comments.
Go to a match you muppet!

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DisplacedNortherner says...
9:44pm Tue 21 Aug 12

beardedclam wrote:
Cannot wait for Shaun from Richmond's "deadbeat" comments. Go to a match you muppet!
He's out having a romantic meal with Correctness tonight so you may have to wait a while for his comments

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Birky Neil says...
9:49pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Great result! Had to work tonight but cannot wait till Saturday. Mind you Wimbledon got a 6-2 spanking tonight so we need to be on our toes. Man of match anyone? Did we play well? Went Saturday and thought we played ok even though we lost.

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dannbradfc says...
9:55pm Tue 21 Aug 12

I'm awsy at the mo but good result. Well done to parky and the players. An attacking looking side and a positive result. You know it makes sense parky.....

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LuvFootball says...
9:59pm Tue 21 Aug 12

beardedclam wrote:
Cannot wait for Shaun from Richmond's "deadbeat" comments.
Go to a match you muppet!
Shaun son of Richmond will be on here applauding the team I am sure.

2 wins in 3 now this season, not a bad start at all. It is a very long season, but we have started it well. Should settle some nerves and boost confidence and quell some niggling thoughts. First win league win, first home win, first clean sheet.

What's the betting that not as many people post on a win compared to when we lose.

Get in, first of many wins this season.

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shoesman1 says...
10:00pm Tue 21 Aug 12

well done parky and the lads great result well chuffed keep it going nearly bit the finger nails of keep it up come on city

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LuvFootball says...
10:01pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Sorry meant to say first clean sheet in the league as we got a clean sheet and a win at Notts Co.

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dannbradfc says...
10:02pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Fleetwood maybe big spenders but radio stated yhat this is the highest wage budget we have had since we entered division 4. The likes of Doyle will earn it I'm sure. Should we be expecting an high placed finish? Ps well done jimmy its 20 for him this season now he has service hopefully.....

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jamiejoe says...
10:11pm Tue 21 Aug 12

... fairly solid at the back, a few efforts on target and a goal, a bit of luck with Fleetwood hitting woodwork and the crowd behind the team = winning ingredients!

lets get on a roll

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Prisoner Cell Block A says...
10:13pm Tue 21 Aug 12

We'd get out battled eh? Rubbish. Incorrectness. Steaming bell whiff.

Good performance, Doyle will run this division on his own, MoM and half fit. Calm, strong, intelligent. I could go on.

Hanson, once again a handful and the partnership with him and Nahki will click again soon.

Back four solid but still feel they are wanting more from Duke and he forces them to make hurried clearances instead of him being more decisive and either coming or giving good instruction.

All in all a positive night, and a season to look forward to. In my opinion.

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Go Torps! Yer flying. says...
10:13pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Great win. Bring on the Wombles!

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BCFC LAD says...
10:23pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Good win for the lads, city on the up.

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i miss stallard & murray says...
10:27pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Great result, great second half. We looked so much better wen balls were played into wells and Hanson feet. The left bak looks a real capture along with Jones Doyle and Hines. Apart from the two times they hit the post I fort we looked solid.

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cullboy says...
10:28pm Tue 21 Aug 12

MOM Doyle great win defence solid

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northyorksbantam says...
10:47pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Very hard fought victory tonight, the lads put in a massive effort particularly in the 2nd half.. Some good performances from Hanson, Oliver, Meredith and McArdle, but also some immense ones... Jones and Doyle in the midfield had a really tough battle tonight against the likes of Damien Johnson...but Doyle was also my MOM, he looks a class act and you can tell he has been doing it at a higher level, he is able to find that extra bit of time on the ball. Also Davies...he had such a battle of his own with that big lump Parkin who also looks like he's done a few rounds in the boxing ring as well as a few too many pies but he was still a hand full...but Davo won that battle as well. They were a tough team with a lot of battlers and spirit, and I'm sure one of the better ones in this league.

We still lack a creative spark and perhaps a bit more support for the front 2 but thats for another day, and may happen against lesser teams.

Also a big well done to Parky...you could see what the goal and this result meant to him, it was good to see.

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ricky76 says...
10:48pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Although I agree Doyle was MoM Meredith was awesome what a signing he looks shame Reid doesnt use him more often when going forward

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Rambo says...
10:51pm Tue 21 Aug 12

How fat were their numbers 5 and 9? Proof that anyone can still make it as a pro footballer....

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jackez20591 says...
10:56pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Nathan Doyle was outstanding, controlled the midfield very very well. Helped out the defence and spread the ball. G. Jones has great legs for an old lad, and an outstanding set piece delivery.

When we get everyone fit we should give every team some serious trouble.

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Dugoutboy says...
10:59pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Great game to watch as both sides going for a win. Great result for us and hopefull the fist of many. Meredith was telling Parky hat Nathan had a problem with his Ham string so think thats why he was taken off. Hope it is nothing serious as his contribution was excellant.
Man of the match - There wasn't one - there were fourteen all played there hearts out.

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Prisoner Cell Block A says...
11:08pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Not a bad shout re Meredith Ricky, could also add Jones and Davies and as dug just said, an all round good performance against a good side also going for a win.

Hope that it was just a tightening if it is his ham, PP did say after if it had been a stiffs game today he'd have played him 60 mins only so is obviously still strengthening and gaining fitness. We'll hope it's precautionary rather than re-active.

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Thee Voice of Reason says...
11:11pm Tue 21 Aug 12

For the first time in a long time we appear to have a midfield that can win the ball and find each other with a pass.
I was very happy with tonights performance and it was a good hard fought win.
3 more points on Saturday will put us in good shape for the two tough away days that follow.

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Shoot Me Im a City Fan says...
11:22pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Great win for city against the big spenders and favorites for promotion. and great goal from Hanson too. just one whinge tho :( sometimes its a bit frustrating to see the ball pinged to hansons head all the time. it did work 2 or 3 times and was flicked on but we were more dangerous when we played the ball to feet, out wide and ran at them,but its early days and that stuff will proberbly be ironed out through out the season once again great win, cant wait for saturday CTID...

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shaun from richmond says...
11:27pm Tue 21 Aug 12

A good solid performance tonight against a team who IMO will struggle in this league.
Doyle looks a class above!.
Thank goodness we are off and running!!

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Prisoner Cell Block A says...
11:46pm Tue 21 Aug 12

See, he can play nice.

Really Shaun? I thought they were quite a tidy side, Parkin will bully other defences and they have some decent forward minded players. Hard to tell on one game I suppose but we'll see as it goes on.

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BigFigure says...
11:51pm Tue 21 Aug 12

shaun from richmond wrote:
A good solid performance tonight against a team who IMO will struggle in this league.
Doyle looks a class above!.
Thank goodness we are off and running!!
Why are you whispering,Shaun? :}

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lonniejockstrap says...
12:18am Wed 22 Aug 12

Well it's a two hr ish trip to the home games for mr now. Just got in to find everyone happy with the win -is that a first? Even my mate Shaun can sleep happy after a pretty sound performance. Well impressed with Doyle, he did really did look as though he was from a championship team, and there were good performances all over the pitch. If our players can relax and not be afraid of making the odd mistake with a very encouraging set of supporters behind them, then I think we will become a very good team in this league.

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Bradford1903 says...
12:22am Wed 22 Aug 12

Much better after the break, thought we got dragged into their type of game 1st half by lumping it long.

Great to see Doyle back in a City shirt; a sign of a good player is that they always have a bit more time on the ball, and he just kept things simple.

I thought he complimented Jones pretty well, who looked to have the legs of a 20 year old. Meredith also looks a good acquisition.

Thought Fleetwood were solid and uncompromising, but short on creativity. It's hard to see how they justify being one of the promotion favourites on this display.

You've got to stand up to these types of teams though physically, before you can start to play a bit of football, which we did 2nd half.

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sootyman says...
3:08am Wed 22 Aug 12

great win lads :) c.t.i.d..

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ricky76 says...
7:38am Wed 22 Aug 12

BigFigure wrote:
shaun from richmond wrote:
A good solid performance tonight against a team who IMO will struggle in this league.
Doyle looks a class above!.
Thank goodness we are off and running!!
Why are you whispering,Shaun? :}
Only the other day shaun was going on and on about even PP can get away with losing against Fleetwood well we didnt lose so about eating some humble pie for once.

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settler07 says...
8:05am Wed 22 Aug 12

Central midfielders who make themselves available to receive the ball and can link the play.....at last. The makings of a bloody good side with no real weaknesses. Fantastic performance and PP looks like a proper Manager. Two concerns are (1) lack of CM cover - i keep banging on about Taiwo and think we need him to not get exposed by CM injuries, and (2) Doyle is only on a 1 year contract!

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usher dave says...
8:12am Wed 22 Aug 12

well done PP you have brought in some class players,we looked solid.

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DisplacedNortherner says...
9:31am Wed 22 Aug 12

settler07 wrote:
Central midfielders who make themselves available to receive the ball and can link the play.....at last. The makings of a bloody good side with no real weaknesses. Fantastic performance and PP looks like a proper Manager. Two concerns are (1) lack of CM cover - i keep banging on about Taiwo and think we need him to not get exposed by CM injuries, and (2) Doyle is only on a 1 year contract!
City havent got a spare 200k to spend on Taiwo or have the risk of having to spend that money haging over them. If he was a genuine free transfer then he would already be here no doubt

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1 bingley bantam says...
9:35am Wed 22 Aug 12

settler07 wrote:
Central midfielders who make themselves available to receive the ball and can link the play.....at last. The makings of a bloody good side with no real weaknesses. Fantastic performance and PP looks like a proper Manager. Two concerns are (1) lack of CM cover - i keep banging on about Taiwo and think we need him to not get exposed by CM injuries, and (2) Doyle is only on a 1 year contract!
Got to agree there mate gutted couldnt make it.Sounded great at times on the radio Meredith wow Jones Wow Doyle top top quality Davies class McCardle solid Reid wow Hines wow need i go on we have the makings of a fantastic team.Only a few concerns Like you want to some how see Taiwo come in as we are a bit bare ars?d there Keeper? and the pitch sounded really poor in one patch worse than last year? whats it gonna be like in January!
Come on city great result lets push on and get another win on saturday.

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Pablo says...
9:45am Wed 22 Aug 12

It was so important we won last night and Fleetwood proved to be good opposition. There were good performances all over the pitch and I can only endorse the comments above about Doyle and Meredith. The back four, particularly, look strong.

The one area of concern was the pitch. Whilst we'd had a few downpours, it wasn't a prolonged spell of heavy rain and the water didn't seem to be draining away in places, long after the rain had stopped. Some urgent remedial work looks necessary, if we are to avoid problems in the winter.

We must now take the spirit of last night into Saturday and more of the same will soon entice back the missing thousand or so from last nght's attendance. Well done to all

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Prisoner Cell Block A says...
9:56am Wed 22 Aug 12

Doyle will only be on a one year contract just in case we don't get promoted or so we can negotiate a lower contract next season.

With R Jones, RR yet to come back in wouldn't another CM be surplus to requirement and cause unrest if 5 players are aiming for 2 starting berths. That isn't to say Taiwo wouldn't be a great addition.

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huggy b says...
10:04am Wed 22 Aug 12

Good, solid performance. Exactly the type of display we needed. Doyle and G Jones were excellent in midfield and if they stay fit, will boss this division. If Fleetwood are the bookies 2nd favourites to go up, I can't wait to see us play most teams! They looked like a mixture of 5/6 ex-Prem and the rest were pub team players!

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Pablo says...
10:08am Wed 22 Aug 12

Prisoner Cell Block A wrote:
Doyle will only be on a one year contract just in case we don't get promoted or so we can negotiate a lower contract next season.

With R Jones, RR yet to come back in wouldn't another CM be surplus to requirement and cause unrest if 5 players are aiming for 2 starting berths. That isn't to say Taiwo wouldn't be a great addition.
I agree with your comment re CM. Only 9,000 there last night and the Board have already supported PP big time. There is no bottomless pit of money. We don't want a Bulls situation at VP and the squad looks strong enough for the present. I think Darby and Connell would consider themselves unlucky not to have started last night. If Ritchie if going to be out a while we can always resort to the loan market.

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fatbloke says...
10:58am Wed 22 Aug 12

People on holiday at this time if year Pablo

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ALEXIMO.56. says...
1:08pm Wed 22 Aug 12

Didn't have time to come on last night. I of course went to the game and we desrved the 3pts but it was a hard game but a good game. The big puddle I thought hampered Riedy's left flank game in the second half and if it was dry, I think he would have torn the Fleetwood defence apart. There were a lot of possitives in last nights game and the players just need about another 4 or 5 games together and we will be a very hard team to beat. Roll on saturday and AFC. and 3 more points then it's Fat boy Davis's Rotherscum and wacky Accy away

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Prisoner Cell Block A says...
3:00pm Wed 22 Aug 12

*EVANS

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Pablo says...
3:59pm Wed 22 Aug 12

fatbloke wrote:
People on holiday at this time if year Pablo
Yes, that , and an evening kick off may have had some effect but I also think reduced season ticket sales played a part too.

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northyorksbantam says...
4:41pm Wed 22 Aug 12

Pablo wrote:
fatbloke wrote: People on holiday at this time if year Pablo
Yes, that , and an evening kick off may have had some effect but I also think reduced season ticket sales played a part too.
Out of interest do you know what the final figures were for Season ticket/Flexi sales? I thought it was a fair bit under 10k anyway.

Doesn't help when the away support is so pathetic. I thought they would bring nearer 1k for there 1st away game in league football at a big fixture not so far away, but don't even think it was more than 200. Not sure why there benefactor wants to plough loads of money into such a poorly supported team,must be a big fan

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Pablo says...
5:53pm Wed 22 Aug 12

northyorksbantam wrote:
Pablo wrote:
fatbloke wrote: People on holiday at this time if year Pablo
Yes, that , and an evening kick off may have had some effect but I also think reduced season ticket sales played a part too.
Out of interest do you know what the final figures were for Season ticket/Flexi sales? I thought it was a fair bit under 10k anyway.

Doesn't help when the away support is so pathetic. I thought they would bring nearer 1k for there 1st away game in league football at a big fixture not so far away, but don't even think it was more than 200. Not sure why there benefactor wants to plough loads of money into such a poorly supported team,must be a big fan
The most up to date info I had was 8,200 season tickets and 1,200 50/50, which ties in with last night's attendance.

Like you, I can't fathom why anyone would want to plough cash into a club with so little pulling power. The danger is if he pulls out, they'll be finished.

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ALEXIMO.56. says...
6:35pm Wed 22 Aug 12

Prisoner Cell Block A wrote:
*EVANS
Thanks pal I meant Evans.

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Prisoner Cell Block A says...
8:52pm Wed 22 Aug 12

Thought so matey.

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northyorksbantam says...
9:55pm Wed 22 Aug 12

Pablo wrote:
northyorksbantam wrote:
Pablo wrote:
fatbloke wrote: People on holiday at this time if year Pablo
Yes, that , and an evening kick off may have had some effect but I also think reduced season ticket sales played a part too.
Out of interest do you know what the final figures were for Season ticket/Flexi sales? I thought it was a fair bit under 10k anyway. Doesn't help when the away support is so pathetic. I thought they would bring nearer 1k for there 1st away game in league football at a big fixture not so far away, but don't even think it was more than 200. Not sure why there benefactor wants to plough loads of money into such a poorly supported team,must be a big fan
The most up to date info I had was 8,200 season tickets and 1,200 50/50, which ties in with last night's attendance. Like you, I can't fathom why anyone would want to plough cash into a club with so little pulling power. The danger is if he pulls out, they'll be finished.
Thanks for that...i guess the crowd was probably about right then to tickets sold and pathetic away following...I think with those numbers we will struggle to break the 10k barrier on most occasions this season. Although anything above 9k is pretty good all things considered.

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Prisoner Cell Block A says...
10:27am Thu 23 Aug 12

I'd hope that results on the pitch put more bums on seats and that was the 50/50 gamble the club took this year.

The signings have been made in an attempt to make us succeed this year if the football on offer and the games are won and in the fashion of Tuesday and even better then maybe the attendances will end up over 10.5k which is still amazing for what is now an entrenched 4th division club.

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