City 2 Chesterfield 0

JANUARY is a month for new resolutions, good intentions and fresh starts. The frivolities are gone, it's a time for knuckling down and getting things done.

Forget the glamour and pizzazz of the previous month's festivities. It's about blowing away the excess and putting words into action. As with City. This is the time of the season when only results matter and how you achieve them is immaterial.

When the campaign is reviewed, a bog-standard home win over Chesterfield will warrant only a footnote – other than a nod towards another fine finish from Mark Marshall. Yet it was just what was required to declare Valley Parade open for business for 2017.

We have had the occasions of football fine-dining this season; tasty offerings so easy on the eye and the palate that have still left us wanting more. But this was old-fashioned egg and chips that hit the spot.

All too often, City have shown they can draw pretty – Saturday was about winning with no frills. A workmanlike performance delivered the perfect result to cap off a great first week to the year.

A maximum six points, Josh Cullen secured until the end and promising striker Alex Jones snapped up on a long-term deal – 2017 could not have begun in brighter fashion for those of a claret and amber persuasion.

January is also the month when the nonsense of the transfer window whirrs back into life. Last week it was James Meredith's omission raising eyebrows among the faithful; this time the conspiracy theorists picked up on the absence of James Hanson's name from the team sheet.

Again, there was no mystery behind any disappearance. Hanson had suffered a little discomfort while training on the artificial pitch on Thursday morning.

Stuart McCall was reluctant to take any risk with striking numbers already at a premium. The arrival of Jones later that day meant he did not need to.

McCall had not planned to throw the new recruit straight in – Jones himself had missed the last two games of his loan at Port Vale through illness.

But a chat with the confident striker convinced the manager and the 71-minute shift put in by the debutant, before he inevitably tired, showed the home crowd City could have an exciting addition in the making.

Jones had only trained with his new team for an hour but seemed to pick up an understanding quickly enough and linked well with Jordy Hiwula in a new-look front two.

Hiwula, his morale lifted by the winner at Northampton five days earlier, popped around in the pockets while Jones was given the role down the middle that he never got with Vale.

The fact he still scored ten goals cutting in from out wide bodes very well for a team who create so much but too often have struggled to convert.

With all the buzz around the capture of Jones, retaining Cullen is arguably the biggest bit of business that City will pull off however the remainder of this mad month pans out.

The midfielder had never expressed any reservations about prolonging his stay and West Ham also saw Valley Parade as the right place to further his football education.

But McCall did reveal there had been a worrying moment in the negotiations when it looked like the extension might not happen. Losing Cullen from that midfield fulcrum could have had a devastating effect in unsettling City's season.

Saturday once again demonstrated what an influence he has, combining with Nicky Law to dominate the central area.

Former Bantams player Gary Liddle, once again being heavily linked with a move to either Carlisle or Hartlepool, had his usual tidy game.

But Jon Nolan, a player that City are said to be monitoring during this January jamboree, was very much second fiddle to the commanding Cullen.

The contest was no great shakes and maybe fatigue from last weekend's efforts was a factor. City had put so much in to that second half at Northampton that tanks were inevitably running near empty the further this one went on. But the job was effectively done by half-time.

The home side had make the breakthrough from a break midway through the first period. Law and Hiwula moved the ball at speed from defence to attack before Cullen fed Marshall tearing down the right.

Joint-owner Stefan Rupp had told the Telegraph & Argus ahead of the game that Marshall was the benchmark for the team right now. Don't over-think, just run, attack and shoot. The winger did just that with a precise drive across keeper Ryan Fulton and inside the far post.

Matt Le Tissier, who knows a thing or two about special goals, was suitably impressed watching the game on the monitor in the Sky Soccer Saturday studio. Valley Parade erupted and, no doubt, a glass was raised just outside Munich by an absent friend.

But Chesterfield did not lie down. They had already bared their teeth a couple of times, Rai Simons shooting over after some slack defending just outside the box and Ian Evatt's header forcing an alert save by Colin Doyle.

But Ched Evans carried the biggest threat. The Welshman, who is still constantly mentioned with City despite McCall's rebuttals, was an inch away from sliding home Reece Mitchell's cross after another mix-up at the back between the centre halves. Then he latched on to a Liddle pass before cannoning a drive against the far post.

A second goal was needed to calm City nerves and arrived at the perfect moment in time added on at the end of the half. McMahon released Cullen on the right flank, the ball in was right on the button and Hiwula managed a late bobble to convert his eighth goal. The same scorers from Monday had struck again and back-to-back wins were effectively in the bag.

The easing off after the break was understandable, both mentally and physically. McCall, while a bit annoyed his team did not go on to score more, has given them the extra day off today to recharge.

Still there were opportunities as Hiwula hit the side-netting after being set up by Law, who seemed to have his shooting boots on the wrong feet as he blazed wide a couple of decent openings for himself.

But Valley Parade was satisfied with the end result. The New Year has kicked off very promisingly.

Attendance: 17,416