Striker Punishes Bantams Again From The Penalty Spot

A penalty from Chris Long saw Crewe Alexandra win their first game of the New Year against Bradford City at the Alexandra Stadium yesterday.

Manager Lee Bell made 1 change from Friday’s 1-1 draw at Newport County as Shilow Tracey came in for the injured Zac Williams while former Alex striker Vadaine Oliver was amongst the visitors’ substitutes.

The game’s opening chance and goal came in the 12th minute with Long getting in behind the defence before being brought down by defender Jonathan Tomkinson, the forward getting up to send Harry Lewis the wrong way from the spot before Tom Booth would make a save to deny Tyler Smith just before the half-hour.

Long would be replaced by Elliott Nevitt on the hour as Lee Bell would continue to manage his minutes after his injury before Andy Cook would head a free-kick home from an offside position with 20 minutes to play. Cook would have a header tipped onto the crossbar with a minute to play with Booth making a save to deny Tomkinson’s header in the final seconds.

The next couple of games see the Alex travelling to Mansfield Town on Saturday before hosting Swindon Town the following Saturday.

Final Thoughts:

This game was a poor spectacle to watch if I’m being honest with two sides that lacked quality on the day – even if it was a case of Bradford having more of the ball and shots towards goal even if the quality of shots wasn’t high at either end of the pitch.

Crewe Alexandra				Bradford City
Long
Booth				Lewis
Billington				Tomkinson
O'Riordan				Platt
Demetriou				Kelly
Adebisi				Halliday
Offord				Gilliead			75
White				Smallwood
Tracey			84	Ridehalgh			75
Rowe				Oduor
Long			60	Cook
Baker-Richardson				Smith			61
Substitutes
Doyle				Davies
Cooney			84	Taylor
Nevitt			60	Osadebe
Kempster-Down				Oliver			75
Agius				Pointon			75
Nolan				McDonald
Robinson				Derbyshire			61

Game Statistics
4	Goal attempts	16
1	On Target	4
1	Corners	8
12	Fouls	18
5	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
43	%	57