Gary Bowyer relishing “exciting times” at Bradford after moving up to fourth

Gary Bowyer has promised “exciting times” to come in the second half of the season after leading Bradford to fourth place in Sky Bet League Two.

Bradford moved up the table after a hard-earned 2-0 win over Mansfield courtesy of two penalties from captain and leading goalscorer James Vaughan.

The first came in the 13th minute when Matt Palmer was fouled in the penalty area by Alex MacDonald after Dylan Connolly’s right-wing cross had caused problems for the visitors defence.

Vaughan then put the result beyond doubt in the 83rd minute with the his second spot-kick after Connolly was brought down by Matt Preston as he raced into the box during a rare Bradford attack.

The result extended Bradford’s unbeaten to six matches, and Bowyer said: “There has been progress made at the club since the end of last season.

“We brought new players into the club and we have been trying to gel to meet the challenges that have been put in front of us.

“The lads have been terrific since day one with their intensity, hard work and commitment for the club and there are exciting times to come.

“We have gained 25 points from 11 games at home and that’s the best home record in the division and I am delighted.”

Bowyer has been pleased with the side’s defensive work in the current unbeaten run, featuring four clean sheets.

He added: “We have had only nine clean sheets all season and I think our keeper Richard O’Donnell deserves more, but it is not just the defence – it is a collective effort. We have talked about clean sheets and defending from the front.

“I am really pleased with this latest clean sheet. Mansfield put a lot of balls into the box and you have to defend second and third balls and we dealt with them well.”

Bowyer also paid tribute to Vaughan, he said: “They were two fantastic penalties and we should have had a third. I thought our front two were handful today with Dylan’s pace behind them.”

Mansfield manager Graham Coughlan, who has yet to win a league game since his switch from Bristol Rovbers, said: “We have had good performances, but only two points since I have been a the club.

“I am really annoyed and frustrated that we have not had more points from these first three matches because we have been the better team in all of them.

“However, if you defend the way have been defending you are going to get punished. League Two is all about the two penalty boxes and in both boxes we have not been playing well enough, but there is plenty of light at the end of the tunnel.”