Tony Crane scrambled home his second goal of the season to earn Sheffield
Wednesday a vital point in their battle against relegation at Valley Parade.
Crane struck with 10 minutes remaining, just 60 seconds after the hosts had
been reduced to 10 men when Jamie Lawrence was dismissed for a second bookable
offence.
The 20-year-old's goal cancelled out Andy Gray's first-half penalty in a
Yorkshire derby full of passion, commitment and entertainment.
Bradford have now failed to beat their rivals since 1977 but Wednesday remain
in deep trouble after winning just one of their last 10 games.
The Bantams almost made the perfect start in the second minute when striker
Ashley Ward ran from the halfway line, shrugged off a couple of challenges
before striking a right-foot shot against the angle of crossbar and post from 25
yards.
Ward, who has not scored a home goal since August, tested Owls goalkeeper Paul
Evans with a back-post header after eight minutes following a teasing cross from
Gray before on-loan striker Lee Bradbury lashed a shot over the crossbar from
distance at the other end.
The hosts made one change to the side that defeated Derby 2-1 on Saturday,
Lawrence coming into the starting line-up with Andy Myers missing due to a thigh
injury.
Chris Turner made three changes to his team that lost against Ipswich, with
veteran defender Danny Maddix, Steven Haslam and Crane all starting.
Crane was playing as a striker in Turner's latest attempt to find a goalscorer
but it was 32-year-old Ward who was making most impact out of the forwards on
view and he shaved the post with another back-post header following Claus
Jorgensen's cross from the left.
Alan Quinn went close with a low right-foot shot from 20 yards after 16
minutes as Wednesday mounted a rare forward foray but they found themselves
behind after half-an-hour.
Jorgensen's powerful run down the left enabled him to jink past two defenders
but as he prepared to shoot from 12 yards, he was bundled to the turf by former
Bradford defender Ashley Westwood.
Referee Alan Butler pointed to the penalty spot after a moment's hesitation
and Gray stepped up to side-foot the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of
the net.
Simon Donnelly replaced the ineffective Haslam at the break as Turner sought a
creative spark from the centre of midfield and it almost paid dividends after 51
minutes when his curling shot from the edge of the area defeated Aidan Davison
but struck the base of the left-hand post.
Michael Standing came on for Lewis Emanuel as Law made his first change but
Wednesday had the bit between their teeth and began to push forward, to the
delight of the large away following in the crowd of 14,453.
Lawrence was booked for a foul on Donnelly before Bradford threatened on the
counter-attack after 66 minutes when Simon Francis broke from midfield and fed
the ball to Gray on the left side of the area but his curling shot was well
saved by Evans.
Youngster Danny Forrest replaced the tiring Ward as the hosts appeared to have
weathered the storm and Standing's low left-foot shot was too close to Evans
with 12 minutes remaining.
However, Lawrence was dismissed for a second bookable offence following a
clash with McLaren and a minute later, Wednesday equalised when Crane bundled
the ball home from close in after McLaren's scuffed shot fell to him following
Dean Smith hitting the crossbar with a looping header.
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