Pete Wild delighted as Barrow get reward for hard work at Bradford

Posted Sunday, February 19, 2023 by PA

Pete Wild declared his pride in Barrow after they ended a six-match winless run by beating Bradford at Valley Parade.

Josh Kay scored the only goal to clinch a memorable double over Mark Hughes’ Bantams, who had been looking for a third successive win.

Barrow manager Wild said: “We’ve worked tirelessly over the last two days in making sure our shape looks right.

“I thought we turned the corner in the second half at Doncaster on Tuesday night. We played with loads of energy and I knew we were on the turn.

“To come here and put in such a composed, structured performance, I’m over the moon.

“You look at away performances, you’ve got to slow it down then speed it up, you’ve got to play the game a little bit.

“They’ve had 78 per cent possession and no shots on target. That’s full credit to every one of them out there.

“It’s an emotional rollercoaster on the side of the pitch and with a 17,000 crowd it’s even more difficult to influence the match. But I’m so proud of what they’ve achieved.

“It’s a huge boost for the club. Football always changes but to put something like that in shows that we haven’t given up.”

Barrow survived Bradford’s fast start to keep the home side at arm’s length – and were rewarded with a goal on 24 minutes.

Kay dispossessed Adam Clayton on halfway, Harrison Neal led the counter-attack and Kay continued his run to finish Ged Garner’s low cross in the box.

Niall Canavan almost doubled Barrow’s lead against his former club early in the second half but failed to make contact from Kay’s knockdown in the six-yard box.

Barrow midfielder Robbie Gotts had a shot comfortably saved by Harry Lewis but Bradford were unable to come up with anything on target.

Their closest moment came from a late header from Sam Stubbs that flew over the bar.

Manager Hughes said: “There wasn’t enough intent and drive and purpose in our play at the top end of the pitch.

“You have to have momentum and pace to switch the play and we were a little bit laboured and too slow. That allowed them to get people back behind the ball and it was difficult to break them down.

“They’ve got 11 players back so you’ve got to be creative, bright and able to create overloads in wider areas. We never really did that and were a little bit safe in our play.

“We didn’t ask enough questions in terms of getting the ball out of our feet and taking people on and pushing the ball past them.

“It was very much a missed opportunity today. We’ve had a great week up to this point but it hasn’t happened and that was a disappointment.”