Bradford City boss Graham Alexander on not going ‘for the throat’ at Stevenage.
BRADFORD CITY manager Graham Alexander was disappointed his team couldn’t capitalise on their lead at League One rivals Stevenage, settling for a point.
Both clubs knew that win would mean topping the League One table, but neither could achieve it as they drew 1-1. The game was played at an intense pace, and it began beautifully for the visitors at the Lamex Stadium, who took the lead after three minutes.
Ibou Touray found himself in plenty of space on the left wing, and his cross found an unmarked Neill Byrne, who had cruised up from centre-half and side-footed his shot into the corner with a deflection.
Stevenage conceded only their second goal at home this season, but they settled in immediately and forced the Bantams defenders into a couple of blocks.
Josh Neufville scored on a Dan Kemp shot after 18 minutes, but his joy was short-lived as Harvey White volleyed wonderfully into the corner.
Both teams enjoyed phases of dominance, with Jordan Roberts headed over early in the second half and Bradford’s one notable chance falling to but it was straight at the keeper, as both sides settled for a point.
Alexander felt the Bantams let Stevenage get back into the game following a strong start.
“They’ve got a superb defensive record and they’ve won all their games here, so to take the lead and play well for 10 minutes (was great),” says Alexander.
“Then I assumed we stopped going for the throat and passed up opportunities to advance and assault their back line. “We gave them a decent stretch of momentum in the first half to equalise, and we conceded several cheap set-pieces.
In the second half, we played more aggressively and purposefully, putting pressure on their back line and gaining ground. We demonstrated where our strength lies.
“Before today, we were the highest scorers in England across the four divisions and I think they had the best defensive record in the EFL, so it was going to be a clash of good records, I suppose.”
“They’ve probably won because they’ve only conceded one goal, while we haven’t scored or created as many as we usually do.”
Stevenage deserves respect for their defensive performance, but I thought we would win the game in the second half. “We just need that second goal to really put teams under severe pressure.”
Stevenage FC: Marschall, Pattenden, Goode, Piergianni, Freestone (Butler 63), Houghton, White (Phillips 78), Roberts (Sweeney 90), Kemp, Lubala (Campbell 63), Reid (Ahadme 78). Ashby-Hammond and Patterson were unused substitutes. Bradford City:
Walker, Byrne, J Wright, Kelly, Neufville, Power, Metcalfe, Touray, T Wright (Lapslie 56), Kavanagh (Cook 56), and Swan. Unused substitutes: Hilton, Halliday, McIntyre, Richards, and Leigh.
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