DAVID Hopkin cursed “15 minutes of madness” after City went down 4-0 at high-flying Luton.

The third-placed Hatters settled the contest with a three-goal burst just before half-time.

James Justin and Elliot Lee, two, punished the Bantams after there had been little in the game for the first quarter.

Hopkin said: “They had a lot of possession but I don’t think they hurt us.

“Then we showed someone inside again for a shot, Richard (O’Donnell) spilled it, and it’s a tap-in for 1-0.”

City were disputing Luton’s second after claiming they should have had a free-kick at the other end against home keeper James Shea.

“That’s why I was going at the fourth official,” added the City boss.

“Their keeper went to throw it out, drops it and picks the ball back up as Eoin Doyle goes to get it.

“Anybody that knows football knows it’s a free-kick for us. Eoin was still arguing and then 10-15 seconds later and we are 2-0 down – it’s very frustrating.

“Their third goal was just schoolboy stuff. I thought the three goals were really poor.

“It was 15 minutes of madness that’s cost us.”

The Bantams improved considerably after the break and created several chances but had one ruled out for offside against David Ball. But Luton added a late fourth through Harry Cornick.

Hopkin said: “I told the players at half-time to go for it for the fans who’ve travelled down.

“I thought they got in Luton’s faces a bit more second half and pushed the game up.

“We conceded another very poor goal at the end but we created five or six good chances.”

Defeat left City rooted to the foot of League One but the bottom four were all beaten. Oxford’s win over Rochdale stretched the gap to safety once more to seven points.