Bradford kept alive their faint hopes of avoiding relegation as substitute
Lewis Emanuel's second-half winner dented Reading's play-off hopes.
Bryan Robson's men began the afternoon 11 points adrift of safety in
Nationwide Division One and while they still have a mountain to climb, they
proved they are not going down without a fight as they ended a run of three
straight defeats.
Bradford captain David Wetherall's first goal in more than two years had given
them an early lead but that was cancelled out by in-form Dave Kitson's fourth
goal in five games.
Both sides ended the match with 10 men after Bantams striker Michael Branch
was sent off 10 minutes after half-time and was soon followed by Ivar
Ingimarsson.
Bradford looked the most threatening during the early stages and took the lead
in the 12th minute from their third corner of the game.
Nicky Summerbee's corner from the right was deflected into the path of
Wetherall and the former Leeds defender headed past Jamie Ashdown for his first
goal since March 2002.
Reading did not take long to hit back though and were on level terms after 25
minutes thanks to a glorious equaliser.
Dean Morgan made a run down the left before finding John Salako and his
first-time cross went behind Kitson, who produced a stunning overhead kick to
beat Alan Combe.
Kitson was then the victim of a foul by Jason Gavin which saw the defender
booked and he was followed by Branch for his challenge on Ingimarsson.
Bradford were forced to make a substitution at the break as Danny Cadamarteri
failed to reappear for the second half and was replaced by Emanuel.
The change immediately paid off as Emanuel took just eight minutes to restore
the home side's advantage when he headed home Branch's cross from the right.
Moments earlier Peter Atherton had been booked for a foul on James Harper and,
a minute after setting up the goal, Branch was sent off when he was shown a
second yellow card for diving.
But Reading's numerical advantage did not last long as they were also reduced
to 10 men four minutes later when Ingimarsson was shown a straight red card
after appearing to strike Dean Windass.
Referee Keith Hill remained in the thick of the action as he booked Wetherall
for a foul on Kitson and Combe did well to keep out the resulting free-kick from
Salako.
Windass almost sealed Bradford's win when he smacked a 30-yard shot against
the woodwork but Reading could have snatched a point late on.
A free-kick was moved forward 10 yards due to dissent by Robert Wolleaston,
who was booked, but Combe produced a smart save to deny Gordon.
Teams
Bradford: Combe, Edds, Wetherall, Gavin, Heckingbottom,
Summerbee, Windass (Forrest 90), Atherton, Wolleaston, Branch,
Cadamarteri (Emanuel 45).
Subs Not Used: Paston, Kearney, Muirhead.
Sent Off: Branch (55).
Booked: Gavin, Branch, Atherton, Wetherall, Wolleaston.
Goals: Wetherall 12, Emanuel 53.
Reading: Ashdown, Murty, Williams, Ingimarsson, Hughes,
Brooker (Goater 80), Newman (Gordon 73), Harper,
Salako (Forster 73), Kitson, Morgan.
Subs Not Used: Young, Owusu.
Sent Off: Ingimarsson (59).
Goals: Kitson 25.
Att: 10,287
Ref: K Hill (Hertfordshire).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook