Bantams impress in Bury's homecoming parade

THE world of football never stops - and City will be thankful for that after getting the show back on the road.

Seven weeks on from the heartache of Carlisle, there was the reassuring sight of the new claret and amber shirts back on a pitch again.

Scowls and tears in Cumbria were replaced by smiles in Greater Manchester on a day when, as the match announcer proudly trumpeted at the final whistle, “football was the winner.”

The Bantams, as expected, reinforced the five-division gap between two teams who only a few years ago were regular rivals.

But the emphatic scoreline was incidental for the hosts as they finally got the chance to call Gigg Lane home again.

There is still work to be done on one of the country’s oldest football grounds.

Only two stands were open for City’s visit - the main one must be up and ready to meet North-West Counties League criteria for the season opener against Glossop North End at the end of the month.

But the permitted capacity of 2,500, including 1,100 from this side of the Pennines, made for a proud occasion after the four-year exile of a club that went to the wall.

The travelling fans will have enjoyed what they saw from City, who fielded entirely different teams for both halves.

Five of the six summer recruits featured with Kevin McDonald the only absentee as he nurses a nicked hamstring from the end of last season.

Vadaine Oliver also joined Harry Chapman on the sidelines with a groin problem. Jake Young, who has been told to find a new club, was not part of it.

Mark Hughes also unveiled the expected new-look system with the move away from a conventional back four to using an extra centre half and wing-backs.

On first showing, it worked a treat - admittedly against opposition far below what the Bantams will come up against when it really matters.

But as a fine-tuning exercise, Hughes could not have expected much more - with the added lift of plenty of goals into the bargain.

Jamie Walker was an attacking threat in the second half (Image: Thomas Gadd)

Friendlies, as we are always told, are about fitness and preparation. Results don’t matter; that’s unless you lose of course and then they can become frontline news on social media.

The big positives came in the individual performances with Alex Pattison grabbing the spotlight from the off.

The attacking midfielder has pledged to bring goals after proving a thorn in City’s side during his Harrogate time.

Day one showed he can make good that promise and bolster an area where the team have fallen well short in recent years.

Emmanuel Osadebe played alongside him for the first half and revelled in the new set-up, releasing the shackles and looking the threat that we hadn’t seen during his injury-ravaged opening campaign.

Then Jamie Walker carried on where Pattison left off after the break with a desperation to score that was duly rewarded with the last of the afternoon’s six goals.

Andy Cook, you’ll be delighted to now, hasn’t changed. League Two’s golden boot demonstrated his deadly sights once more with a superb finish.

Bury were hardly able to lay a finger on the City’s defence despite the hard running of centre forward Benito Lowe.

They did have a bit more joy after the mass changes but could not find the goal they craved for their homecoming.

The partnership of Ciaran Kelly, Ash Taylor and Matty Platt looked a strong fit in the first half.

Throw second-half captain Sam Stubbs into the mix and it appears a real competition for those starting roles if Hughes persists with the set-up.

But predictably the bulk of the action focused on the other end where City needed just seven minutes to stamp their authority.

Osadebe combined with Liam Ridehalgh to burst down the left before working the ball to Pattison for a precise finish from the edge of the box. A goal from a midfielder, will wonders never cease!

It was 2-0 five minutes later from the usual source. Luke Hendrie pumped a long ball that Cook brought down in the box and then from a tight angle lofted a perfectly-place half-volley over keeper Jack Atkinson.

Taylor’s long throw, a weapon City have never really had before, then came up trumps when Tyler Smith nodded in on the full - only for the ref to blow for a non-existent tug from Kelly in the melee.

Osadebe got the third with his first goal since scoring against Sunderland in last year’s pre-season. Hendrie again claimed the assist as the midfielder stabbed home from his low cross.

Bobby Pointon is sent flying - but claimed a late assist (Image: Thomas Gadd)

Fellow wingback Ridehalgh was the unlikeliest scorer of the fourth, Smith’s tenacious run and shot coming out to him to slot in almost apologetically with his weaker right foot.

Walker set up the fifth soon after the break with a glorious ball to pick out Matt Derbyshire’s run as the veteran supplied the coolest of finishes.

The Scot nearly conjured up a solo special with a mazy run past four white shirts. But he rounded off the scoring late on from a peach of a cross by lively youngster Bobby Pointon.

CITY: Lewis, Platt, Taylor, Kelly, Hendrie, Smallwood, Osadebe, Pattison, Ridehalgh, Cook, Smith.

Second half: Richardson, Oyegoke, Stubbs, Odusina, Halliday, East, Gilliead, Walker, Oduor, Youmbi (Pointon 70min), Derbyshire.