Bradford moved back into second in the First Division table after their
deserved win at Valley Parade over West Bromwich - but Paul Jewell's men made
hard work of their victory after enjoying the lion's share of play and chances.
City stormed into the lead after just two minutes through Wayne Jacobs,
normally a left back, but pushed forward into the left-hand side of the midfield
because of injury.
The West Brom defence failed to clear Gareth Whalley's left-wing cross and
Jacobs' left-foot shot was deflected into the net by Paul Holmes, leaving
goalkeeper Phil Whitehead stranded.
Bradford then dominated the next 20 minutes without being able to increase
their lead although they did have the ball in the net after 25 minutes through
Lee Mills, back in the side after serving a one-match suspension.
Mills slid Isiah Rankin's low-right wing cross into the net, but was ruled
offside.
West Brom had a great chance to equalise two minutes before half-time when a
cross from the right put the Bradford defence in trouble, but striker Jimmy
Quinn fired over the crossbar from 10 yards with only goalkeeper Gary Walsh to
beat.
Bradford made a determined bid to increase their lead in the first 20 minutes
of the second half and Rankin ought to have scored after 59 minutes when Jacobs
played the ball into his path, but Bradford's record £1.3million signing shot
inches wide of the post and the chance was gone.
West Brom caused some anxious moments to the Bradford defence in the closing
stages and they too had the ball in the net after 79 minutes only for leading
scorer Lee Hughes to be ruled offside.
One of the biggest cheers of the afternoon came at the end of the match with
the news that second-placed Bolton had lost 3-1 at home to Crewe to restore
Bradford's position in second.
Teams
Bradford: Walsh, O'Brien, Moore, Westwood (Dreyer 85), Todd,
Lawrence (Rankin 18), McCall, Whalley, Jacobs, Blake, Mills.
Subs Not Used: Ramage.
Goals: Jacobs 3.
West Brom: Whitehead, Holmes, Van Blerk, Bortolazzi (Raven 87),
Murphy, Burgess, Angel, Sneekes, Quinn (De Freitas 59), Hughes,
Kilbane.
Subs Not Used: Adamson.
Booked: Murphy, Sneekes, Hughes.
Att: 14,278
Ref: R Pearson (Peterlee).
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