Ten-man Bradford end run of League One games without win

Posted Sunday, November 25, 2018 by PA

Ten-man Bradford City ended a run of seven League One matches without a win by beating Oxford 2-0 in front of a bumper 19,084 Valley Parade crowd.

Two goals in three minutes through David Ball and Jack Payne midway through the first half enabled the League One’s bottom club to record only their second home league win of the season and only their fourth in 19 matches.

The only down side for Bradford came in the 84th minute when defender Nat Knight-Percival was sent off the for a foul on substitute Sam Smith.

Oxford dominated the early exchanges before Bradford took charge with two goals in three minutes.

The first after 25 minutes came as the visitors struggled to defend Payne’s left wing corner.

Eoin Doyle headed the ball on to Ball to score with a close range header. Keeper Simon Eastwood got a hand to the ball, but could only help it into the net.

Payne increased Bradford’s lead in the 28th minute. Doyle’s shot was blocked only as far as Lewis O’Brien and he squared the ball to Payne to score from the edge of the six yard area.

Bradford also had the ball in the net on two other occasions but both efforts were disallowed for offside.