Bobby Pointon netted a 82nd minute winner to guide Bradford up to second in League Two with a 1-0 win away at Bromley.
Pointon’s low strike into the far-right corner in the 82nd minute from Jamie Walker’s pass settled a competitive contest which saw Bradford dominate much of the game, during which Bromley’s goalkeeper – Grant Smith made a double save in the 61st minute to deny headers from Brad Halliday and Michael Mellon.
Bradford now sit second in the League Two table whilst Bromley remained tenth and seven points off the final play-off spot currently occupied by Crewe Alexandra.
With Bromley ambitiously chasing a play-off spot whilst Bradford looked to move into the automatic promotion placings, it was little surprise that both teams made an energetic start but the Bantams soon went close as Jack Shepherd fired a fifth-minute shot wide from nearly 20 yards.
Bromley quickly found themselves forced to defend resiliently until Ben Thompson was fouled by Richard Smallwood in the 19th minute, which nearly saw the Ravens take the lead just a minute later but Jude Arthurs headed over the bar from a well-executed free-kick into the box.
Brandon Khela and Antoni Sarcevic soon afterwards went close for Bradford but were denied as Graham Alexander’s Bantams began to dominate, during which Sarcevic was debatably narrowly denied by the offside flag on a 35th minute counter-attack from Mellon’s through-ball.
Bromley however almost snatched the lead against the run of play as Cameron Congreve played a counter-attacking one-two with Michael Cheek four minutes from half-time, but couldn’t get his feet steady to attempt a shot as the first half finished goalless.
Cheek and Congreve continued to prove difficult for Bradford’s defence to handle just five minutes into the second half as the striker tried to tee up the on-loan Swansea player to tap in from a cutback pass, yet Sam Walker was alert to make a crucial save.
Bradford went close through Khela in the 54th minute but were further frustrated just past the hour mark as Brad Halliday and Mellon both saw headers denied in quick succession by Smith.
That double-miss was almost punished in the 65th minute as Cheek flicked Ashley Charles’ cross onto goal but Walker was alert to make a crucial punch behind the goal.
The game subsequently became more end-to-end as Pointon rifled a 72nd minute shot wide of the bottom right corner.
Bradford though had been involved in 1-0 results in five of their last eight league fixtures of which they had won four of those particular fixtures, and that pattern struck once again as substitute, Walker teed up Pointon to rifle the Bantams ahead with a 82nd minute shot into the far-right corner.
Bromley continued to push the Bantams hard until the final whistle but the Yorkshire visitors ultimately dug deep to seal the win, which cemented their automatic promotion ambitions as they climbed up to second in the table with just their fourth away win this season in the fourth-tier.
What’s Next?
Bromley face another tricky clash against a promotion contender as they head to South-London rivals, AFC Wimbledon on Saturday 1 March at 3pm GMT.
Bradford meanwhile head to Salford in a tough all-Northern contest between two promotion challengers at 12:30pm on 1 March.
Teams
Bromley: Grant Smith, Carl Jenkinson, Deji Elerewe, Byron Webster, Adam Mayor (Ilunga 71′), Jude Arthurs, Ashley Charles (Ifill 79′), Corey Whitely (Dennis 79′), Ben Thompson, Cameron Congreve (Sowunmi 64′), Michael Cheek
Substitutes: Louis Dennis, Kamarl Grant, Marcus Ifill, Brooke Ilunga, Nicke Kabamba, Sam Long, Omar Sowunmi
Bradford: Sam Walker, Aden Baldwin, Paul Huntingdon, Jack Shepherd, Brad Halliday, Richard Smallwood, Brandon Khela (Pattison 77′), Lewis Richards (Adaramola 40′), Antoni Sarcevic (Leigh 77′), Bobby Pointon, Michael Mellon (J.Walker 78′)
Substitutes: Tayo Adaramola, Neill Byrne, Joe Hilton, Callum Johnson, Tommy Leigh, Alex Pattison, Jamie Walker
