Match Report – Bradford City 2-2 Gillingham

Well, the first thing I have to say is that the officials were terrible. No-one round me thought that the Gills’ midfielder Bentley was going to be sent off for his challenge on Paul McLaren, the ref ignored several absolutely blatant fouls on Thorne and Boulding and gave free-kicks that baffled most of the crowd. I had no idea what the guy was doing – and I’m pretty sure he didn’t either.

Gillingham started brightly and built some good moves going forward, but after City went one-nil up we started to look more comfortable and added a second just before the break. The first goal came when Peter Thorne finished with a shot from inside the box following a save from Gillingham’s keeper who tipped an effort onto the post. I thought it was Furman who had gone for goal, but the T&A report insists it was a Thorne header. The second came when Colbeck, who had temporarily switched wings with Omar Daley, cut in from the left and hit a well-struck shot with his right foot.

Second half, Gillingham came back into the game and got a first goal back through Jackson. They had cut through the City defence on a couple of other occasions and let themselves down with poor finishing so the first goal wasn’t a surprise. To be honest, neither was the second. City seem to be making it far too easy for opposition players to get through our defence at the moment and a couple of shots hit the flags either side of the goal at the Bradford End. The late equaliser for Gillingham was something we had asked for. Not being quick enough with our passing and too prone to fanny about indecisively at the back, we look vulnerable. Going forward, Peter Thorne had another effort saved by the ‘keeper and at two-one there was one more moment to savour as Omar Daley amused the crowd with some crazy-legged showboating.

Late on, Colbeck had an effort saved and the resulting corner saw Lee thump a header against the bar but the five minutes of injury time were in vain and City could not find a winner. By this time, Topp had replaced Thorne (who was dumped on his backside by a Gills defender) and Conlon had come on for Boulding (to cheers from the Valley Parade faithful, thankfully).

We’re still in a play-off position and a couple of decent results at Darlo (on TV, Tuesday) and Grimsby (Friday night) should set us up for a good night against Bury on Tuesday 28th at Valley Parade.

Evans 7 – let down by the outfield players.
Moncur 6 – played his part, but a mistake let Gills player through to miss.
Lee 6 – sponsor’s man of the match was better in the first half than the second.
Clarke 6 – failed to keep out Gills striker for their equaliser.
O’Brien 7 – solid.
Colbeck 6 – despite goal, was too quiet.
McLaren 6 – not always quick enough to pass ball.
Furman 7 – energetic.
Daley 7 – some good runs.
Thorne 7 – scored yet again.
Boulding 6 – no chance to shine.

Ridiculous Booing and Abuse – Barry Conlon, Omar Daley…

It was Daley and Conlon last year, and Conlon again this season. Who’s next? Thorne? McCall? Graeme Lee?

I can’t believe the boos that greeted Barry Conlon as he came off the bench last Saturday. They guy hadn’t even got on the pitch and people were booing him. It won’t help the player and it won’t help the team. If it’s not constructive, why do it? I know people who think Conlon is a “shit player” and who have said that nothing he does will ever change their opinion of him (which is closed-minded, prejudiced and idiotic), but at least they don’t boo the lad. He’s wearing claret-and-amber, that means he’s one of us for now – so stop the booing and either clap our players onto the field or shut the fuck up.

People will claim that they’ve paid their money so can ‘have their say’ – you haven’t paid the ticket price to boo and abuse people, you’ve paid money in order to watch football. I can understand the team being booed off at half-time or the final whistle following a poor performance, but some fans will boo simply because the score is 0-0 – however well we’ve played. Given that booing players rarely (if ever) has any effect in terms of improving performance then why would any fan who wants the best for his club do such a thing? These are people who haven’t thought things through or they simply aren’t true fans, in my opinion. Boo the ref, boo the linesmen and boo the opposition if you must – leave our lads alone, though.

Apart from anything else, Conlon isn’t as bad as these ‘fans’ make out. He is a big strong lad who can hold the ball up, he is good at harrassing defences and he has a decent, if unspectacular, record in football – including in terms of scoring goals. Not that that is his main strength, but 95 goals in 295 starts in the league is a on-in-three ratio. Not as good as top strikers maybe, who might expect one goal per two games started but still it’s not too shabby! Incidentally, Conlon has made more substitute appearances for City than any other club he’s played for – 25 and counting in the league. He only made one appearance as a sub in league football at Darlington and scored 39 in 114 starts, which is one goal every 2.9 games and like I say, that’s not a bad record. Peter Thorne’s career goalscoring record in the league is 2.4 and Conlon’s is 3.1- there is a difference, but not a huge one. Andy Cooke’s career record is 2.9 and Ashley Ward’s is 3.2, to put this in some sort of context. These are players who give more than goals to a team – they hold the ball up for one thing. Hard work is another attribute that was appreciated by City fans when Andy Cooke was at the club, it should be the same for Conlon. [Stats - http://www.soccerbase.com/]

Having said all that, it is only a minority of fans that boo. There wasn’t a single boo in the section I was in last Saturday, so it was probably a small group of gobby and ill-informed youngsters. I did hear one bloke, though, as he shouted “that’s shit McCall! Shit!” when he made the change and brought Big Barry the Bastard on. I looked round a minute later when Conlon scored but couldn’t see anyone looking sheepish enough to have been that bloke. Either he left, or was cheering his new hero. Go on Barry the Bastard – score a fucking hat-trick next time you start a game and shut these clowns up for good.