Swindon slump to drab defeat on the road at Bradford

Swindon Town remain without back-to-back league wins this season after they went down 1-0 to Bradford City at The University of Bradford Stadium.

The first half was desperately lacking in quality from both side and it took a pair of defensive errors to give Calum Kavanagh the chance to give Bradford the lead.

Neither side was able to add any extra flavour after the break and Swindon could not put enough pressure on to get anything.

We have reached December and Town have only been able to string two wins together in the league once in 2024 but defeats for their relegation rivals do keep them outside of the relegation zone.

Ian Holloway made four changes to the starting 11 from last weekend’s win over Fleetwood Town, with each rewarding the performances in midweek. Jake Cain was given his first league minutes under the Bristolian from the start and Billy Kirkman was given his league debut having been recalled from Weston-Super-Mare at the start of the week.

Town’s manager had been very clear ahead of the game that his strategy was trying to reduce the opportunities to make errors and that was evident from the off. Swindon wasted no time getting the ball in towards Harry Smith with no passes travelling less than 20 yards before it was in the Bradford half.

It was only the moments when they had successfully moved themselves up the field when Bradford seemed dangerous. The athletic Bantams’ wing-backs and attackers were quick to get on their bikes and stretch when they won possession deep and had Swindon back peddling frantically on a number of occasions.

Openings were hard to come by in the opening 45 minutes and the first time either side looked like scoring came rather by accident. Paul Glatzel had won a free kick near the corner flag and Gavin Kilkenny looked to curl one towards the far post. The ball was just dipping underneath the crossbar and Sam Walker had to push it over to be sure.

You always felt a goal would require an error and typically this season it was Swindon who obliged. Tunmise Sobowale beat Andy Cook to a through ball and tried to turn but got the ball stuck under his feet. Kavanagh picked up on it and shot weakly at Dan Barden, he parried and the attacker was the only one to react and rolled the ball into an empty net.

The hustle and bustle which had characterised Swindon’s last two performances remained in this one but they were lacking in quality in key areas. The desire for tempo had gone too far and nobody was able to get hold of the ball and create a proper opening.

They were still feeding on scraps, the next time Walker was worked, it came off the boot of his own defender. After a well-worked throw-in down the right, Joel McGregor sent a low cross into the near post and the centre-back sliced it badly, causing Walker to get down low.

Swindon had been able to contain any real threat from their hosts but they were struggling to generate any of their own. Their only shot had been by accident and they had rarely ventured into positions where they could even have done more.

Paul Glatzel and Jaxon Brown swapped roles at half time and that did enable the former German youth international to get more touches. Town were asserting themselves more by getting the ball down the flanks but the Bradford back three were comfortable with what they were dealing with.

Any hope that Holloway might look to open up in search of a goal was not realised as the game remained exceptionally cagey. Bradford were not risking anything given that they had the lead and Swindon didn’t seem to be able to make the game exciting on their own.

Kabongo Tshimanga was introduced midway through the half to add another attacking threat but the ball was never in the areas to utilise his skillset. There were four natural strikers on the field but very little work was coming across their crowded desk.

If anything, Bradford were the ones coming on stronger towards the end of the match. They seemed to have the greater energy up the flanks but shots on moments of quality remained the rarest of commodities in this one.

Ultimately, Swindon have gotten themselves out of the relegation zone and progressed in the cup during a busy week but this display puts the breaks on the hype train as the football on show did not contain the same life as the first two.

The best formula for survival may well be to keep games close and hope to win the coin flip but you are going to struggle to get too many hearts racing playing like Swindon did in Yorkshire.

BCFC starting XI: S. Walker, Richards, Smallwood, Kavanagh, Cook, Baldwin, Huntington, Pointon, Shepherd, Benn, Evans.

BCFC substitutes: Doyle, Halliday, J. Walker, Sarcevic, Kelly, Oliver, Sanderson.

STFC starting XI: Barden, Sobowale, Delaney, Glatzel, Smith, Cain, Kilkenny, Drinan, McGregor, Kirkman, Brown.

STFC substitutes: Bycroft, Wright, Ofoborh, Cotterill, Longelo, Tshimanga, Cox.

Attendance: 15,751 (289 away).