Newport County vs Bradford City
Match Report 9th March 2021
An extra time penalty from Newport county midfielder, Matty Dolan, was enough to claim three valuable points against Bradford City on Tuesday night.
County continued their recent fine form against a Bradford team who were also looking to gain ground on the League 2 play off places.
This was a strange game for the hosts though, as they travelled to the Cardiff City Stadium due to the pitch condition at Rodney Parade. They have also arranged to play Leyton Orient in the Capital later this month.
Dolan, who previously played for the Bantams, was at the heart of everything that County did, along with Welsh international midfielder, Josh Sheehan. But it wasn’t until the second half that this game truly sprung into life.
Priestly Farquharson got caught in possession just inside the County half and under hit a back pass to his Goalkeeper, Nick Townsend. Bradford striker, Andy Cook, was quick to pounce on the mistake and slot it home just after the restart.
After what was a pretty impressive first half, only a few chances created for both sides, the early goal gave the visitors added confidence as they put more pressure on the County defence.
The Exiles boss, Michael Flynn, made some changes to the front line and it started to make a difference straight away with Dom Telford and Ryan Taylor coming on for Scot Bennett and Nicky Maynard.
The game changed on the 75th minute, Bradford had still been penning County back, the game becoming more stretched with Flynn making another double change just before.
Sheehan’s positive run towards the penalty area drew a foul from the Bradford defence to allow Man of the Match Dolan to step up.
Dolan produced a free kick the Canton End of the Cardiff City Stadium would have been proud to see, the mercurial Bluebirds former number 7 producing many over the years for the ground owners.
This goal buoyed the Welsh outfit, with the officials indicating a minimum of 4 minutes add time adding to the anxiety of the West Yorkshire side.
A long throw caused confusion in the Bradford area, Levi Sutton had his arms raised and gave away the stoppage time penalty, which Dolan put away without showing any nerves at all.
The win moves Newport into the top six with 54 points but for Bradford, it’s a crushing blow for their promotion hopes.
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