THE feelgood factor is building in BD8 after City made it three wins on the trot.
T&A chief sports writer SIMON PARKER was at Valley Parade yesterday to see the Bantams beat Gillingham and delivers his match stats and player ratings.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Jack Shepherd’s thunderbolt strike deserved to win any game – and capped off a very strong all-round effort from the on-loan centre half against a very physical Gillingham.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
What a strike! Shepherd could play another 10-15 years and will surely never score anything close to that thundering volley.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
Calum Kavanagh should have known better than to touch a ball that was already going in and be flagged offside – but the instinct to get that elusive first goal of the season took over.
TACTICS
Neill Byrne returned after missing the Tranmere win through illness.
He was the one change from the Prenton Park line-up, replacing Jay Benn who missed out altogether suffering from the sickness bug that has swept through the squad during the week.
Benn’s absence meant that Brad Halliday reverted to right wing-back.
REFEREE: Ross Joyce (Middlesbrough)
BOOKINGS: Wright, Shepherd, Byrne, Halliday, Pointon (City); Dieng, Clarke, Clark, Coleman (Gillingham)
ATTENDANCE: 16,471 (with 396 from Gillingham)
SHOTS ON TARGET: City 6 Gillingham 3
SHOTS OFF TARGET: City 4 Gillingham 1
CORNERS: City 8 Gillingham 4
FOULS: City 10 Gillingham 13
POSSESSION %: City 47 Gillingham 53
PLAYER RATINGS
CITY: S Walker 7, Diabate 7, Byrne 8, Shepherd 9, Halliday 7, Smallwood 7, Wright 6 (Richards 32min, 7), J Walker 7 (Pointon 67min), Oduor 7 (Evans 80min), Kavanagh 7 (Smith 80min), Cook 7 (Oliver 80min). Subs (not used): Huntington, Doyle.
GILLINGHAM: Turner 5, Hutton 6, Masterson 7, Ehmer 6, Clark 6, Dieng 6 (E Williams 81min), Coleman 6 (Nolan 77min), Gbode 6 (Wakeling 72min), Clarke 7 (J Williams 77min), Lapslie 7, Hawkins 6 (Wyllie 72min). Subs (not used): Ogie, E Williams, Ashby-Hammond.
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