Wolves 2, Bradford City 3; Match Report, by Richard Sutcliffe at Molineux.

Does football get any better than this?

The Bantams went into their promotion showdown at Molineux facing the stiffest task of the day in the First Division- to beat a Wolves side who had lost just once since Boxing Day.

And to make matters worse for Paul Jewell's men, Colin Lee's side also knew that only victory would be good enough to stand a chance of earning a play-off place.

But on one of the most memorable days in their 96-year history, Bradford City earned a place among English football's elite in a thrilling clash with Wolves which had more twists and turns than a rollercoaster ride.

First, there was utter despair when Haavard Flo put Wolves in front.

This misery was compounded minutes later when news filtered through that Jim Magilton had given rivals Ipswich a precious lead and at that stage, City were staring the prospect of being condemned to the lottery that is the play-offs.

But goals from Peter Beagrie and Lee Mills before the break settled the nerves of players and fans alike and when Robbie Blake put the Bantams 3-1 ahead after 64 minutes, it seemed that City's 77-year wait for a return to the top flight was definitely over.

Unfortunately this being Bradford City, the fun wasn't over yet and when the otherwise excellent Beagrie missed a penalty and Paul Simpson struck to reduce the Bantams' lead to just one goal, it condemned us all to a nail-biting final ten minutes.

The tension was almost unbearable sat in the stands so I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like on the pitch. And when Simpson curled a free-kick round the City defensive wall and past Gary Walsh with just five minutes remaining, it appeared that the dream was over.

However the ball struck an upright and bounced to safety to the utter relief of thousands and thousands of City fans.

Referee Chris Foy then proceeded to play four minutes of stoppage time so when the final whistle sounded, the City players and fans came together as one in celebrating one of the most amazing football success stories of the 1990s.

The difference between success and failure was just a couple of centimetres, but there can be no denying that Paul Jewell's men deserved any luck which came their way.

After a hard and tiring season, City's players had again shown their tremendous desire and determination to bounce back from Flo's early goal to play some of their best football for weeks.

In recent games, City had looked sluggish and lacked a cutting edge but that was never the case once Beagrie had brought the scores level with his 25th minute special.

All of a sudden, the swagger which had characterised so many games was back and Wolves had little answer.

City went ahead thanks to a marvellous ball from Robbie Blake which put Lee Mills through and the top scorer coolly slotted the ball past Mike Stowell for his 25th league and cup goal this season.

This crisp passing game was also an integral part of Blake's strike after 64 minutes.

In midfield, Stuart McCall and Gareth Whalley chased every ball and were cool in possession.

On the right flank, Jamie Lawrence worked tirelessly with his penetrating runs being married with some superb tackles.

Beagrie was also back to his best form out wide to such an extent that right back Kevin Muscat looked a broken man coming off the field at half-time.

And it was fitting that all three of City's goals should go to their trio of top scorers because Mills, Blake and Beagrie have managed 57 goals between them this season.

Every City player was a hero but I believe two of the side's more unsung heroes deserve the highest praise.

Both Stephen Wright and John Dreyer have been in and out of Jewell's side this season but there can be no doubting the tremendous contribution they made.

Gary Walsh also played a massive part in City's victory when, after being fouled in the build-up to Wolves' first goal, he responded by pulling off an unbelievable save from Paul Simpson's curling shot when City were just 2-1 ahead.

A goal then and Wolves would have been fired up but the City keeper again rescued his side and paved the way for the glorious celebrations which met the final whistle.

Doom-mongers outside of Bradford, noticeably those with a Huddersfield postcode, have already started muttering about City following the likes of Barnsley and Swindon in being relegated just 12 months after promotion.

But as one City player said in the dressing room afterwards 'Who cares about that today? We are up and that is all that matters'.

And after sitting through such a memorable 90 minutes it is hard to argue with that. Well done City! You deserved it.

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