Bradford triumph against odds
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Blackpool 0 Bradford City 3 (Bradford win 3-2 on aggregate)
Bradford will go to Wembley for the first time in their history after an extraordinary comeback from a two-goal first-leg deficit in their play- off semi-final at Bloomfield Road last night.
Blackpool is the home of the outlandish and the fantastic, but it has seen few sporting turn-arounds to rival the way City pursued the unlikely vision of a place in the Second Division final.
It was as though Blackpool, with two recent appearances there, were dazzled by the prospect of going back to Wembley. The visitors were the more urgent in a scrappy first half, missing two good chances before Carl Shutt gave them the lead on the night five minutes before the break, scoring from close range after Blackpool failed to clear.
Blackpool hit the bar through Tony Ellis immediately afterwards, but the momentum was with the Yorkshire side, who drew level on aggregate midway through the second half. Andy Kiwomya beat Marvin Bryan to the byline and pulled the ball back for Hamilton to steer home.
Again Blackpool hit the bar, this time through Andy Preece, but they produced little else on a night dominated by Bradford's sheer dogged determination. "We knew it would come," the City manager, Chris Kamara, said. "We could have won by five."
Every objective bet on the ground would have been on City winning, in extra time if necessary. It was not needed, thanks to Mark Stallard who fired in 11 minutes from time after Blackpool had again failed to clear the ball.
The final whistle saw the two sets of supporters moving ominously towards each other on the pitch until police horses barred their way, and afterwards scores of Blackpool fans gathered outside the ground to bay for the head of manager Sam Allardyce.
Blackpool (4-1-3-2): Nixon; Bryan, Bradshaw, Linighan, Gouck (Philpott, 83); Morrison; Mellon, Bonner, Watson (Brown, 62); Ellis (Quinn, 75), Preece.
Bradford City (4-4-2): Gould; Husford, Mohan, Brightwell, Jacobs; Hamilton, Duxbury, Mitchell, Kiwomya; Shutt, Stallard. Substitutes not used: Ormondroyd, Jewell, Tolson.
Referee: W Burns (Scarborough).
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments