Harrogate Town 1 Bradford City 2: Sulphurites 'didn't deserve' derby defeat

The Sulphurites delivered a much-improved performance and even managed a long-overdue goal from open play, but they still ended up on the losing side, going down 2-1 at Wetherby Road. Jaheim Headley rattled home a 47th-minute equaliser to cancel out Andy Cook’s early penalty, but with the hosts looking the more likely, they were stung on the counter-attack by Tyreik Wright. And that result leaves Town without a victory in eight matches, a worrying run of form which has seen them take just one League Two point from the last 21 on offer. Weaver, however, believes that his side did enough to have at least come away with something. “The performance was an improvement again. We are getting better but it’s a tough school, two mistakes, two goals and we have lost the game,” he told the Harrogate Advertiser. “We looked very competitive and I’d say we were on top for a large part of the game. We were thinking that we looked the more likely at 1-1. I thought we were on the verge of that second goal. I thought if either team was going to get it, it would be us. “A point would have been a valuable one with the run we have been on, but at the same time we felt we were the team turning the screw. That’s good because Bradford have been on form and we haven’t, let’s be honest, we’ve been searching. “Bradford are one of the best and biggest teams in our league and it’s a shame to lose the game because we didn’t deserve it. "But, we will start picking up points if we keep playing like that and, let’s be honest, it’s uncomplicated stuff, it’s lads carrying out their roles at high intensity and working their socks off.” The Bantams began the brighter of the sides at the EnviroVent Stadium, but Harrogate came to life on 10 minutes when Jack Muldoon teed-up Luke Armstrong for a well-struck effort which Harry Lewis had to touch over his cross-bar. Muldoon then skinned his man down the left following a corner and delivered a dangerous low cross which was deflected across the face of goal and narrowly wide of the far post by a City foot. Disaster then struck for the hosts as Harry Chapman was adjudged to have kept the ball in play wide on the City left before racing into the box and past Kayne Ramsay, whose rash lunge left referee Peter Wright with no option but to point to the spot. Andy Cook emphatically dispatched the resulting penalty, but Harrogate heads didn’t drop and the hosts went on to enjoy a decent spell in the ascendancy. Armstrong’s goal-bound volley was superbly kept out by Lewis, then Muldoon just failed to get on the end of a low Armstrong cross from the right. Alex Pattison was next to threaten with a blast that Lewis got down well to beat away, before Matty Daly fired over the top. Town would however get their reward for their brightest attacking performance in weeks just two minutes into the second period. After more than 11 hours of football without a goal from open play, Josh Austerfield found Headley in space in the left-hand edge of the Bradford box and the Huddersfield loanee beat Lewis at his near post with a scorching effort. Buoyed by that goal, the Sulphurites went on to make most of the running in the 25 minutes that followed. But, despite engineering some decent attacking situations, they never really managed to open Bradford up. That was until the 70th minute when some quick thinking at a free-kick saw Joe Mattock pick out Muldoon in the away box, and his left-footed strike drew another fine save out of Lewis, who flew into the air to tip the ball to safety. City, who hadn’t threatened at all since half-time aside from a Richie Smallwood free-kick which Pete Jameson was at full-stretch to claw away, then struck a decisive blow, out of nowhere, on 73 minutes. A swift counter-attack saw Tyreik Wright played in behind Ramsay down the left and he lifted a neat finish over the advancing Jameson and into the net. With the Bantams happy to hold on to what they had and keep numbers behind the ball, Town had plenty of possession during the closing stages, though they were not able to put the away goal under any kind of a sustained spell of pressure. They did look to have found an equaliser in the 87th minute when Armstrong was played clean through on goal and found a finish at the second attempt, however an offside flag cut short the home celebrations, condemning Weaver and his men to yet another defeat.