CITY 0 SCUNTHORPE 0

THE legendary Bill Shankly once remarked about Everton: “If they were playing down the bottom of my garden, I’d draw the curtains.”

The same could probably have been said about an encounter between two teams who had amassed the grand total of 10 straight defeats between them.

This was the League Two equivalent of the throwaway game that fills the last five minutes of Match of the Day just after midnight.

And it lived down to expectations.

Football’s social media boycott over the Bank Holiday weekend may have helped the Bantams dodge the bullet of an increasingly-agitated fanbase.

But they don’t need to open Twitter to appreciate the growing discontent from supporters who, just a few weeks ago, were singing the praises of a rising team potentially toying with the play-offs.

How quickly times change. A month on from putting four past Forest Green, this was City’s first point from a possible 18.

A fourth successive blank at Valley Parade meant the home campaign will finish on a scoring drought of 408 minutes since Anthony O’Connor’s goal against bottom club Grimsby.

And this latest failure to hit the net came against a porous Scunthorpe side that had leaked 16 goals in their previous five outings. The third worst defence in the division and City haven’t managed to put one past them in two attempts.

Suddenly the spotlight is being turned up uncomfortably on managers Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars.

Half a dozen games ago they were being hailed as the duo who had revived City’s fortunes to such an extent that a tilt at the top seven was a realistic target in the final month.

Now they are facing vociferous questioning about their ability to stop the slide and getting the Bantams back playing like the team that soundly won at promoted Cheltenham on their own patch and did not concede a goal against second-placed Cambridge.

With the survival goal achieved well ahead of schedule, they were given the “free hit” of a pressure-free finish to build up some momentum to take into the summer and a following season when the expectation levels will understandably be far higher.

Five defeats and a draw against a struggling team who have won just once in 15 – no prizes for guessing who that was against – have thrown those hopes into disarray.

Fans who have been craving to get back to Valley Parade after over a year away are having second thoughts.

Football fortunes can change at the drop of a hat and this current trend of flat performances, few goals and fewer points is hardly the advert City want ahead of their imminent season-ticket release.

This snooze-fest will have just convinced a few more doubters to “pull the curtains”.

The final home game is a traditionally emotionally-charged occasion as the club pay tribute to those taken during the horrific scenes of May 11, 1985.

Even without a crowd – or any coverage on City’s social-media platforms – the pre-match ceremony was once more carried out with due reverence and respect.

What a shame then that the team failed to muster a performance worthy of the occasion.

Instead, they churned out another bitty, disjointed display that is worryingly becoming the norm.

Scunthorpe’s Twitter feed prior to the black-out had been busy plugging tickets for The Greatest Showman playing on the outside cinema at their ground.

There was nothing great about the men on show at Valley Parade – far from it.

“Too many XXXX touches” screamed an angry Elliot Watt as City were too static for the first half, players seemingly content to keep hold of the ball for too long with little movement around them.

The tempo did thankfully up a gear after the break but even then, it was hit-and-miss; the odd frenzy of activity followed by periods when the game just drifted along.

That suited Scunthorpe perfectly as they ground out the point needed to ensure they would be back again next season. That sounds more of a threat than a promise after watching this.

City’s bosses had been encouraged by a more spirited – if just as goalless – effort against Salford in the previous game.

They stuck with the formation they knew best and made just the one change. It was a significant one as Lee Novak was thrown in against his former club to start his first game since knee surgery.

The good news was that the striker emerged unscathed from a 72-minute run-out; but he had looked decidedly rusty and was given precious little to work with.

City mustered just two shots on target – the first of those early on when Levi Sutton set up Charles Vernam to force Scunthorpe keeper Mark Howard into a smothering block.

Sutton made the odd run forward but the hosts never looked like threatening again for the rest of a dismal half.

The biggest moments were at the other end where Sam Hornby reinforced his credentials to keep the number one spot with an athletic tip-over from Kevin van Veen’s header.

Mind you, City should not have escaped from Alex Gilliead’s resulting corner when Alfie Beestin slipped his marker Gareth Evans but planted the free header wide from six yards.

Apart from one effort over the bar from Callum Cooke, City’s attacking intent was handicapped by a reluctance to pass forward instead of sideways and back.

Andy Cook’s arrival on the hour in place of Finn Cousin-Dawson saw a switch to two up front and more targets in the box.

Connor Wood grabbed the initiative and rattled a right-footer wide but there were also gaps appearing the other way with the change of shape and Hornby was called upon to save his side for a second time.

Ryan Loft latched on to a long ball, threw off Paudie O’Connor and bore down on goal. But Hornby had his angles spot on and stuck out a strong left leg to block the shot.

City at least went for it in the closing stages and substitute Clayton Donaldson twice could have won the day.

When Anthony O’Connor kept a deep cross alive, Donaldson toed the ball against the post. But the biggest miss came right at the end when he swished Charles Vernam’s cross through the six-yard box and wide with an outstretched leg.

Crawley, Harrogate and Tranmere had all put lengthy winless runs to bed courtesy of the Bantams.

Scunthorpe may not have taken the full three points but boss Neil Cox’s relieved shout at the final whistle proved they’d got what they had come for.

As for City, this season cannot end soon enough. Then we shall see how they plan to breathe some much-needed positivity back into their fortunes.