REPORT: Bradford City v Port Vale
Attendance: 18,558 including 1,073 visiting supporters
League One
At The Northern Commercials Stadium (Valley Parade)
Saturday 6th August 2016
Bradford City v Port Vale
Vale began the season with a well-deserved point at Bradford, a point they had to work hard for at times, but there is no denying it was no more than they deserved.
Bruno Ribiero’s men fought for every single ball right from the kick off and with a little more luck could have snatched all three points late on in the game.
Vale expected a terrific atmosphere at the Northern Commercials Stadium and they weren’t let down by a boisterous home crowd, who made a lot of noise right from the kick off.
Vale sat back and allowed the home side to have a go at them, soaking up the pressure with the home side rarely troubling Jak Alnwick in the Vale goal.
minute.thHe was almost caught out, however, with an angled effort from Billy Clarke, which struck the Vake crossbar in the 12
Mark Marshall was causing a few problems for the Vale defence down Bradford’s right flank, looking back to his best as he tormented the visitors.
Vale had an opportunity when Knight-Percival fouled Rigino Cicilia and the home side’s attempt to clear Anthony de Freitas’ free kick saw Paulo Tavares fire inches wide of the target from the edge of the box.
Vale had Ben Purkiss to thank for ensuring Vale didn’t concede on the half hour, hecking a shot form Knight–Percival off the line with Alnwick beaten.
Vale were riding their luck at times and had a big let-off when the ball was played across the face of goal inviting the stretching Hanson to put it away, but his legs weren’t quite long enough.
minute.thRibiero’s side continued to live dangerously at time in the second half and looked like they were in trouble when Tony McMahon burst into the box in the 55
Hecloed in on goal and was about to shoot, when in came Anthony Grant from nowhere to whip the ball from his toes, averting the danger.
minute when Anthony de Freitas went off to be replaced by Chris Mbamba.thVale made their first substitution of the afternoon in the 56
minutes and Vale also took the opportunity to make a change, Anton Forrester replacing Rigino Cicilia.thThe home side made a double substitution in the 69
At that time Vale looked like they had managed to contain the home side, coping with the best Stuart McCall’s men could offer, but with twenty minutes remaining there was still a long way to go.
Vale put another set of fresh legs on in the shape of Quentin Pereira on 76 minutes when he came of the bench to replace Jerome Thomas.
Just seconds into the four minutes of stoppage time Vale almost snatched it when Tavares crossed low from the right, but Mbamba couldn't quite get a clean connection on it.
BRADFORD CITY: Rouven Sattelmaier, Jordy Hiwula, Paul Anderson, Reece Webb-Foster, Matthew Kilgallon, Kwame BoatengSUBS:Colin Doyle, James Meredith, Nicky Law, Romain Vincelot, Mark Marshall, James Hanson, Billy Clarke, Filipe Morais, Nathaniel Knight-Percival, Daniel Devine, Tony McMahon.
PORT VALE: Ryan Boot, Anton Forrester, Chris Mbamba, JJ Hooper, Quentin Pereira, Sebastien Amoros, Calvin Mac_IntoschSUBS:Jak Alnwick, Ben Purkiss, Nathan Smith, Remie Streete, Kjel Knops, Anthony de Freitas, Anthony Grant, Paulo Tavares, Sam Foley, Jerome Thomas, Rigino Cicilia.