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Spireites sunk by single strike: MATCH ACTION SLIDESHOW
Bradford City 1 Chesterfield 0
A headed goal from Peter Thorne defeated Chesterfield at Bradford City's Valley Parade yesterday. Coupled with Rochdale's come-from-behind victory over Rother-ham United, it was a miserable day for Lee Richardson's team.
By the time the final whistle blew, Chesterfield had done enough to have earned a point, maybe more, but the strong end to the game by the Saltergate side was in stark contrast to their feeble start.
"We didn't start to play for half an hour," Richardson complained. "You can't afford to do that. We've seen it on too many occasions for my liking this season. It seems as though we're waiting for a goal against us to spur us into action which is a sign of players being not quite on their game and not internally motivated.
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"All the banging of chests and whooping and hollering before the game is one thing but the game starts on the pitch. We seem to need the adrenalin kick of being a goal behind and the fear of defeat before we spark into action."
Without Jack Lester (broken nose) Richardson also had to go into the game without fellow striker Jamie Ward, whose often iffy hamstring played up again, enough for him to also be withdrawn from the Northern Ireland Under-21 squad for their home game against Romania tomorrow.
Steve Fletcher and David Dowson were drafted in having both made excellent contributions after coming on as subs against Accrington two days earlier. Richardson also left out Peter Hartley, Lloyd Kerry took his place leading to a few positional shuffles along the way.
The first half atmosphere in the big crowd matched the early fare. It was quiet on and off the park. Aaron Downes had headed wide and Thorne shot off target at the other end before City bagged the game's only goal.
Sheffield United asset Ben Starosta delivered a right wing cross to the far post and Thorne, scorer of four in a match when Stoke beat Chesterfield 5-1 eight years ago this month, rose high to convert.
Keeper Barry Roche got a hand to it but was unable to keep out the powerful header.
Chesterfield, prone to some defensive hesitancies, did not manage a shot of note before the interval though Dowson was a handful for the home rearguard but nothing quite fell for him while a couple of flaps by keeper Scott Loach fell kindly for Bradford.
Big shouts for a Chesterfield penalty early in the second half fell on deaf ears. Dowson was whacked in the face by Mark Bower, he fell, but referee Colin Webster, close to the action, was ignored the appeals.
Adam Smith came on for Jamie Lowry and his pace began to cause a few problems as Chesterfield began to dominate proceedings and when Brendan Moloney followed him into the action, for an out of sorts Gregor Robertson, the visitors really stepped up the ante.
A late save from Kerry and two dangerous crosses from Smith and Winter saw Chesterfield end the game in dominant style, but with nothing to show for their efforts.
Bradford
Bradford City: Loach 8, Starosta 6, Wetherall 7, Bower 7, Heckingbottom 6, Colbeck 6, Nix 6, Penford 5, Rhodes 5 (Johnson 5 58mins), Topp 6 (Brown 6 63), Thorne 7 (Conlon 85). Unused subs: Williams, O'Brien
Chesterfield
Chesterfield: Roche 6, Picken 7, Downes 5, Kovacs 7, Robertson 5 (Moloney 7 66), Lowry 5 (Smith 7 58), Niven 6 (Winter 81), Kerry 6, Leven 6, Fletcher 6, Dowson 8. Unused subs: Annerson, Hartley
details
Goal: Thorne (Bradford).
Booked: Kovacs, Downes (Chesterfield).
Referee: Colin Webster (Tyne & Wear)
Attendance: 13,825
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
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