Shrewsbury 2 Bradford City 1

On a day when Bradford was hotter than Benidorm, City's performance left Colin Todd cold.

The temperature at Gay Meadow was still nudging the 30 degrees centigrade mark at kick-off time last night.

But City's efforts against a home team who had begun their pre-season a week later never got above luke-warm.

Shrewsbury, playing their first friendly, were not as good as previous opponents Morecambe but the visitors were a shadow of the side that had pinged the ball around and looked so lively in spells on Saturday.

Some things didn't change - like the left back who looked out of his depth.

Sylvain Meslien had made a pig's ear of the job at Christie Park but he looked like Roberto Carlos compared with Everton reject Sean Wright.

The 19-year-old had one of those games when everything he touched went wrong and when he missed the ball completely, as he did with one vain attempt at a diving header, it was punished with Shrewsbury's opening goal.

No surprises then that Wright's trial ended at the half-time mark. By then, the manager had already delivered his verdict.

Not that Wright was all to blame for the 21st-minute goal. Once again Donovan Ricketts has to take his share of the responsibility as he continues his stumbling start to pre-season.

Wright's woefully mistimed lunge failed to cut out a pass to release Dave Edwards down the right wing but City should still have dealt with the low cross he put in.

Instead, Ricketts took the strange decision to go for the ball with his feet and Colin McMenamin was able to get enough of a connection to divert it goalwards despite the best efforts of Richard Edghill on the line.

Edghill managed to come through a full game for the first time since shattering his ankle at Colchester and, encouragingly, he seemed to improve as it went on.

Alongside him, David Wetherall was at his obdurate best, sensing potential danger and dealing with it quickly as Shrewsbury asked most of the early questions.

Todd will also have been encouraged by the two Johnsons. Eddie showed some nice touches and good movement, even though the service was iffy, and Jermaine looked a real box of tricks with his powerful surges from the halfway line.

The one drawback was the reluctance of his team-mates to give him the ball. When he did get possession, there was always a feeling that something might happen.

JJ played both wings, having started on the left - where he was a spectator for the first half hour.

City's only chance in that period was a crafty left-footer from Dean Windass, which flew across goal after the striker had latched on to a booming kick by Ricketts, but otherwise there was little for the handful of travelling fans to cheer.

A combination of Edghill and Ricketts denied Ben Davies an early success and Wetherall followed up with a sliding block to stop McMenamin. Shrewsbury were certainly worth the goal lead when it did arrive.

But City levelled seven minutes before the break thanks to a huge slice of luck. Or rather a huge slice off the shin of centre half Gavin Cowan as he managed the subtlest of touches to change the angle on Joe Colbeck's hopeful centre and turn it in off the far post.

Jermaine Johnson then launched the first of several dangerous raids but Sagi Burton managed to nip his cross off the head of the waiting Windass.

Andy Cooke, on trial with Shrewsbury, had looked good at bringing those around him in to play but had not threatened a shot - the story of his 18 months as a Bantam.

But that all changed in the 57th minute. Nobody shut down Ben Herd overlapping down the right and he crossed deep to the far post, where Cooke nodded down and in.

Johnson tried to respond but the finish did not match the run and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, anonymous up to that point, saw a snap-shot beaten away by change goalkeeper Ryan Esson.

That was the midfielder's last involvement and he was replaced by Tom Penford, who was close to converting with his first touch after being set up by Jermaine Johnson.

Simon Ainge, on for the hapless Wright, made a couple of important interceptions but Ricketts nearly shot himself in the foot again when he tried to dribble away from Kelvin Langmead.

CITY: Ricketts, Edghill, Wright (Ainge 46), Schumacher, Wetherall, Bower, J Johnson, Bridge-Wilkinson (Penford 69), E Johnson, Windass (Symes 63), Colbeck (Bentham 46).