CITY 2 READING 0
IT HAD been 224 days since Brad Halliday last felt such a buzz.
Home win number seven was safely under the belt as the popular defender was shoved into the limelight by his teammates.
Halliday led the post-match salute after his first league start since that magical afternoon against Fleetwood back in May.
Few would have thought back then that it would be seven months before the “Ginger Cafu” was finally pencilled in a League One line-up.
But then who could have possibly predicted that City would be nearing the midpoint of their first season back in the third tier still flying so high? Halliday got better as the game went on – just like City.
This was a template victory in this run since last month’s “refresh”. That weekend off in the wake of those three defeats looks almost inspired.
There were no dramas, nothing too flashy just a professional performance that added another three points to this remarkable season. “Graham’s grinders” once more getting the job done.
The opening goal was almost to the minute of last week’s at Plymouth. The identity of the scorer, Valley Parade talisman Antoni Sarcevic, the same.
Again, an even first half had led to a controlled second as the Bantams forced the advantage and never really looked back. Like Plymouth, Reading offered little response and this time there was the luxury of a second to take any sting out of the closing stages.
So here we are in mid-December with just two defeats from the opening 19 league games.
The 37-point tally is City’s fourth highest at this stage since the change to three points for a win. Two of those campaigns that bettered that ended in promotion.
Alexander will keep feet firmly planted on the ground in a landscape where a clutch of rivals remain within striking distance.
But there is eight-point daylight to Luton, the team currently one place below the play-off cut-off line. And Huddersfield, whose outlay dwarfs their fierce rivals, are nine back having played a game more.
CEO Ryan Sparks posted last night on Instagram comparing the table now from December five years ago when only Southend were keeping City off the foot of the entire league.
“We’re on our way to the Championship” chorused the Kop in the wake of Bobby Pointon marking his 100th appearance for the club with the decisive second goal.
Are terrace tongues as firmly in cheeks as, say, a couple of months ago? At what point do City get judged as a proper contender?
The swagger that greeted their arrival at the new level may not be so evident. But there is a hard-nosed attitude about the team currently that reminds you of that run early in the year which underpinned the ultimately successful promotion drive.
This side have got accustomed to their surroundings and used to picking up points.
Reading were another stand-out name on the fixture list, another fallen Premier League opponent with more experience of the Championship than the lower divisions.
To put it in context, the two teams had not shared a division for 21 years. City’s 2-1 victory in April 2004 was their last in the Championship – Lewis Emanuel got the winner for the hosts, who were still in the strangling clutches of administration.
It’s a very different world at the University of Bradford Stadium now as the present-day Bantams continue to show that past reputations count for nothing.
Apart from Christmas-week opponents Leyton Orient, Wigan and Port Vale, City have had a good look at the rest of the competition. There is no fear in their eyes.
Someone could potentially stretch their legs and run away from the pack – Cardiff still have a four-point advantage after their late show against Doncaster – but the evidence suggests it will still be nip and tuck for a good while.
City, as Alexander likes to say, are no tourists in this.
Halliday’s return for a jaded Josh Neufville was the line-up he had picked for the abortive trip to Vale Park in midweek. He saw no reason to change that.
The back three, which has seen more tinkering than most, was the same that shut the door on Plymouth.
Aden Baldwin again started in the middle, although the switch was made at half-time to return Joe Wright to his preferred central role against the physicality of Reading’s Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan.
Baldwin had provided Reading with their best hope from an undercooked back pass that gifted possession to Kamari Doyle bearing in on goal.
But Sam Walker used his body well to block before Ehibhatiomhan wastefully lashed the rebound into the Bradford End. It was the one true scare of the contest.
Ehibhatiomhan needed watching but Reading had no edge to their attacking play.
Ciaran Kelly built on a solid return in Devon with another strong display that saw him lead the count on tackles and headers won.
His form has allowed Ibou Touray to revert to wing-back where he tirelessly ploughed up and down while Tyreik Wright gets to play in his favourite part of the pitch.
Wright’s run and cross for Pointon’s goal was a flashback to the peak form of his first City spell. It was proper, shackles-off wing play that left one-time Bantam Paudie O’Connor running in treacle in pursuit.
Alexander said: “That was one of the first times I’ve seen him think, ‘right I’m just going to run at you and take you on.’
“It was a great example for him to show he can outrun anybody. Put me in a race and I’m going to win.”
City had started with a real tempo, Stephen Humphrys unleashing a fizzer that Joel Pereira pushed round the post.
But it was 10 minutes into the second half before the deadlock would be broken.
Touray covered the ground again to deliver the cross, Halliday was at the back post to nod back into the mix where Sarcevic was lurking to drill home.
He soon made way for Pointon to bring up his personal landmark – which he celebrated in true fashion with his 19th Bantams goal and first with his head.
Another feelgood episode on another afternoon of so many. This is the season that keeps giving for City fans.
