DAVID Ball threw City a potentially huge lifeline in the fight for survival with a dramatic stoppage-time winner.

His 96th-minute strike provided the perfect ending to a breathless finale to give the Bantams the three points they had craved.

City may still be in the bottom four on goal difference – but they have hauled everyone else into it, just as their manager wanted. Shrewsbury are among the fall guys as Ball’s nerveless strike breathed new life into City’s chances.

Seasons can turn on moments like that – we certainly hope so.

A frozen Valley Parade had felt a world away from the original meeting between the teams on opening day.

City’s 1-0 win in the Shropshire sun signalled a winning start to the Michael Collins era. It proved, of course, to be the falsest of dawns.

Nearly six months on and reality is biting as the Bantams scrap and scramble to try to retain their League One status.

Shrewsbury, too, have changed managers since that August encounter although their summer appointment John Askey had at least lasted until the clocks had changed.

Sam Ricketts had won only one of his opening eight league games but claimed a notable FA Cup scalp at Stoke and nearly another over Wolves at the weekend.

City, lifted by that first comeback point against Burton, stuck with the same starting line-up. Adam Chicksen’s return from his two-game ban earned him a bench spot at the expense of Ryan McGowan.

The Australian’s absence sparked the inevitable speculation at this time of year, especially with his contract up at the end of the season.

There were only five starters left from the side that Collins had named at Shrewsbury on that balmy August afternoon.

Ricketts, like Hopkin, is attempting a rebuilding job with 10 players leaving the Shrews this month and five coming in. They are still chasing a proven goal-scorer before the deadline – aren’t we all!

Valley Parade was far from full for such a significant game in City’s campaign. But Hopkin was expecting a full-on performance to build on Saturday’s fightback.

The Bantams boss had preached patience in the build-up and resisting the urge to go gung-ho from the off.

A cagey start saw Fejiri Okenabirhie stretch Richard O’Donnell into a routine save on the break. Shrewsbury old boy Nathaniel Knight-Percival came charging in to meet Jack Payne’s corner but didn’t get a proper contact on the header.

But City struck the first blow on 19 minutes – with loan stars Payne and David Ball at the heart of it.

Ball began the move with a neat turn inside his own half to make space before seeking out Payne with an angled pass. James Bolton tried to cut it out but slipped, leaving the City number 10 free to cut in towards goal.

His low cross-shot beat keeper Steve Arnold and was inadvertently helped into the net by the back-pedalling Anthony Grant, who will be credited with the own-goal.

City quickly looked for a second as Ball this time looked to get off a shot himself from the edge of the box but Arnold was equal to it.

Shrewsbury’s top scorer Okenabirhie, without a goal since early December, threatened to end that drought with a looping cross that almost found its way inside the far post.

City failed to heed that warning and were pegged back by the striker just before the half hour. Greg Docherty slid a low pass through the home defence and Okenabirhie knocked it past the diving O’Donnell.

The atmosphere subsided once more with that disappointment, Payne failing to trouble Arnold with an immediate response from 20 yards.

Calum Woods, on his home debut, then whipped in a decent cross but Eoin Doyle flicked his header wide.

But City restored their lead in emphatic fashion after 38 minutes through Lewis O’Brien.

The youngster looked to thread a ball into Eoin Doyle in the box and when it was blocked back into his path, he took matters in his own hands with a thumping finish into the roof of the net.

As Valley Parade rejoiced once more, there was another scare for the Kop as Luke Waterfall headed narrowly past the far post from Docherty’s in-swinging free-kick.

It was tense at times – not helped by City coughing up free-kicks in threatening positions - but they reached half-time with their noses in front against the side with the division’s worst record on the road.

Woods made a couple of attacking forays to start the second half and his alert interception set up Payne but Shrewsbury skipper Mat Sadler smothered the shot.

Payne then delivered a deep corner which Anthony O’Connor nodded over as City looked for the security of a third goal.

The tension in the air was eased when it arrived on the hour – a reward for real persistence.

O’Brien won possession back in a tight hole to slip it through to Payne in the Shrewsbury box. His shot was blocked and Ball’s follow-up was hacked away – but Doyle was on hand to make no mistake with the third attempt which he drilled home for his eighth goal of the season.

City tried to pile on the misery and Arnold pulled off an instinctive close-range save to deny Doyle a second after Ball cut it back invitingly.

Shrewsbury’s attempts to pull one back were thwarted by two fine pieces of defending from Woods. But his impressive start was brought to a premature end as he suffered an injury denying Sam Smithy a far-post header and was forced off.

And the Shrews were thrown a stunning lifeline on 75 minutes, Okenabihrie bagging a second as he curled a free-kick over the wall and into the top corner from 20 yards.

That made for an anxious finish but Paul Caddis was the picture of calm as he chested Luke Waterfall’s header off the line.

But as the game headed into five added minutes, the right back clipped Smith in the corner of the box. Ref Scott Oldham pointed straight to the spot – and Okenabirhie sent O’Donnell the wrong way to claim his hat-trick.

The drama was not over, however. As the clock ticked on, Ball emerged as the late, late hero as he cut back inside and found room to bend a shot into the bottom corner of the net in front of a delirious Kop.