Bradford PA 2 - 2 Barrow

Barrow are making a habit of last-gasp goals and they did it again at Bradford when Nesovic scored in stoppage time. However, it was only justice after poor refereeing and a dubious penalty to the home side.

Barrow started with a 3-4-3 or 5-2-3 formation, with Housham apparently at right back and only Gaughan and Warren in midfield. They got a gift goal after 9 minutes when the keeper came out of his box but made a complete hash of whatever he was trying to do, leaving Tarrant clear to roll the ball into the net from the edge of the box. After that, it was nearly all Bradford, who were quicker to the ball on every occasion. With Gaughan and Warren on defensive duty, there was a massive gap in midfield and hardly any chance of playing the ball forward to the strikers. The goal on 24 minutes came as no surprise, Mitchell volleying in after the ball bounced around in the box. A Bradford player was booked for a late challenge on Mxfiled. One of the Bradford defenders was leading with his elbow into every high ball and Tarrant got a nasty and very obvious blow from the elbow but the ref took no action. However, a lesser offence by Hume minutes later was yellow-carded. At half time, Barrow were fortunate still to be on level terms after a very poor display.

Anthony replaced Hume at the interval and Housham moved to midfield with Warren dropping back. The reshaped midfield looked more effective and the game was much more even, though there was still little quality. Barrow gradually grew in confidence but were stunned by a penalty decision on 75 minutes. Hall was adjudged to have 'climbed' on a Bradford player in an incident one sees 8 or 9 times in a game and was booked. Mitchell scored well from the penalty. As frustration grew, Warren and Nesovic were booked for dissent. Barrow pressed forward and minutes later a succession of goalmouth incidents saw two penalty apeals ignored - one for climbing and one for handball. Housham was then unlucky to have the ball taken off his toe as he was about to shoot. Three minutes of stoppage time were announced and in the second of these the ball was pumped into the home penalty area. It was cleared as far as Nesovic on the edge of the box and although he mishit his shot it bounced off the ground and up into the roof of the net. Somehow the referee, who must have had a bet on a home win, contrived to let play continue for another 4 to 5 minutes, but Barrow got the point their second half efforts deserved.
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