CITY 1 GRIMSBY 0

IT WAS the sliding doors moment of Bradford City’s season.

Talks had taken place with Paul Hurst’s advisors and his appointment as Stuart McCall’s full-time replacement was imminent.

Then Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars oversaw their first victory over Cambridge to take the sting out of the situation.

As City’s hierarchy paused in making the big call, the caretaker duo went and did it again at Grimsby.

They had earned a run at it – and Hurst’s hopes of the job quickly faded, instead finding re-employment at the club he led back into the EFL in 2016.

This defeat at Valley Parade four months on, however scratchy the contest, will have only hastened the bottom club’s return to non-league.

For his opposite numbers, a 13th win in their 23-game rein officially removed the spectre of relegation that had hovered menacingly when they first got the call.

In truth, it’s been done for weeks but the maths now confirm it. Even if the performance that clinched the decisive three points was decidedly pedestrian.

City failed to take advantage of the huge helping hand offered by Grimsby’s self-destructive sending off after the half-time whistle.

Stefan Payne, who Tranmere had tried to offer them as a bargaining chip in the deal for James Vaughan in the 2020 January transfer window, spectacularly took leave of his senses.

His frustration at a poor pass from Filipe Morais spoiling a Grimsby counter-attack ratcheted up from a sweary outburst to head-butting the former Bantam.

It is coming up to 20 years since the infamous Stuart McCall and Andy Myers incident at Elland Road as tempers boiled over in a team consigned for the drop.

Payne’s ridiculous overreaction highlighted a similar lack of discipline among players knowing how this season is likely to finish.

Hurst’s threat that he will not play again for them this season did not sound like an empty one.

It is also understood that there was some damage to the away dressing room – Grimsby can expect a repair bill.

Their actions made a mockery of the pre-match rallying call that had appeared on the club’s Twitter feed three hours before kick-off, proclaiming “We fight together until the very end!”

More like the end of the first half when Payne decided to take the message a bit too literally.

There was a hint of farce in what followed.

The Grimsby striker was hustled back towards the tunnel still effing and jeffing as referee James Bell cleared the melee and prepared to produce a red card.

Payne had reached the changing rooms by that point – and was ordered back out by the ref to take his punishment in the doorway alongside a stunned Hurst.

The guilty party then sat in self-imposed solitary confinement on the steps outside the dressing-room block as everyone tried to get their heads around what had just happened.

His manager was just as angry with Morais for his part in goading Payne and the Portuguese’s Valley Parade return was immediately cut short as part of a treble substitution at the interval.

It had been the only instance of drama in a contest desperately low on quality.

Grimsby’s decision to turn up in a diamond had caught City on the hop. That was one formation that had not been included in the build-up analysis.

Trueman and Sellars hastily shouted on for a reshuffle with Anthony O’Connor dropping in as a third centre half. It added to the disjointed, bitty feel of a scrappy afternoon.

A draw would have been no use to anyone.

City’s ambitions on catching the top seven could not afford dropped points against the worst team in the EFL.

For the Mariners, an eight-match unbeaten run watered down by seven draws had not brought a relegation lifeboat any nearer. They had to somehow buck the historic trend and claim a first win over their hosts in 16 attempts.

But you wouldn’t have sensed the win-at-all-costs nature judging from the opening 42 minutes.

Last season’s fixture had attracted a season-high crowd of 17,668 to Valley Parade to create an electric backdrop for McCall’s return.

If ever a game in this sterile behind-closed-doors campaign needed an audience to gee things up it was this one.

A turgid first half would not have been allowed to drift along if the fans had been there to deliver a proverbial kick up the backside.

Grimsby had the only opportunity of the first half hour when Giles Coke header over from a corner.

It took 34 minutes for City to muster anything towards the away goal as Gareth Evans, making his 100th league appearance for the club 12 years on from his first, tested James McKeown with a snap shot from just outside the box.

Things then thankfully began to pick up as Finn Cousin-Dawson took too long to pull the trigger when well placed and Connor Wood’s dangerous cross was smuggled away from the diving Andy Cook by Sam Habergham.

But City did strike from the resulting corner.

It was worked back to taker Evans whose second cross glanced off the head of Jay Matete on its way to the far post where O’Connor was still lurking to apply a confident finish with his left foot.

Grimsby attempted a response in the minute’s added time but Morais and Payne’s wires got crossed – and the resulting implosion underlined the desperate nature of their position.

That should have been the platform for City to push on to a healthy victory. Their marginally-positive goal difference, currently the lowest bar Morecambe in the top half, could come back to bite in the scrum to sneak into the play-off back door.

But rather than working the ball about and waiting for gaps to appear, too many passes became forced in a hurry to go forward.

On one occasion when they were prepared to take their time and probe for the opening, former Mariner Charles Vernam teed up Connor Wood in the box with the chance to take a touch before rocking the Grimsby bar.

A second goal then would have resolved matters but the best chance of doubling the tally went begging.

Within two minutes, Harry Clifton had slipped past Paudie O’Connor to force an alert save from the otherwise-underused Richard O’Donnell.

City anxiety levels remained high to the final whistle, which was greeted more with relief than celebration. There was no Luke Hendrie-esque sting in the tail this time.

The significance of the result far outweighed the display. Points in the bag are the be all and end all at this late stage.

A case of “what might have been” for Hurst as Grimsby fate looks sealed. City must buck up to achieve their goal but at least it’s still there for the taking.