Roy McFarland went into the Bradford game with good news, and bad; the good saw the return of Wayne Allison to a forward line that had missed his presence, while the midfield was to be deprived of the dependable Mark Allot for only the second time this season. Gareth Davies made a welcome return to the sixteen, displacing Aaron Downes from the bench.

Two attack-minded teams tended to cancel eachother out during some inconclusive opening exchanges that saw chances at a premium. City had the ball in the net on 9: Roche's weak kick out was pounced on by Claridge who surged into the box and slid it to Windass. The burly frontman converted, but was offside. In reply, Hall shot over after collecting Allison's knock-down and taking it to the edge of the box. Windass had the ball in the net again on 12, but was offside again.

Picken did well to cross on 13 and Allison, in the penalty area, looked set to capitalise, but his shirt was pulled so badly that its neck was ripped wide open: the ref, clearly a fan of that "just slept in" look, saw nothing to bring the whistle to his lips.

A battle of epic proportions was unfolding in midfield, and Clingan and Niven were winning it. On 18 Sammy won the ball back off Windass and found Allison, who fed Hall, but the club's leading scorer shot over. Larkin came close on 20, cutting in from the right wing and powering a shot goalwards: to say that Ricketts (well-placed as he was) saved it would be generous, for it struck him and skimmed across the face of the goal for a corner.

Smith got up on 27 and shot over, and Cadermarteri was booked for a foul on Hall in the build-up. City had their moments: Wetherall, who was colossal at the back, brought his height forwards and headed a Petta cross over on 29, with the goal rather at his mercy. Nicholson fired a free kick goalwards on 36 but Ricketts held with comfort.

Both sides attacked with purpose and City came closest, next. Windass headed on to Claridge, who found Petta bearing in on goal. His placed shot looked certain to give the Bantams the lead but the imperious Blatherwick thought otherwise and chased it back; he got in the way of it but still it looked like trickling in, Blathers continued, though, and slid the ball away a foot or so from the goal line.

The crowd came to their feet in protest just before half time: quick thinking in the Chesterfield defence saw Larkin set free on halfway, but the linesman's flag went up for offside. It looked like an atrocious decision - Larkin ran from inside his own half - but it may have been the case that he ran back into his half from an offside position to begin with.

Blatherwick was booked for a foul on Claridge on 48. Allison's strength came to the fore on 50, when he held up play to release Niven; his cross was met by Hall's head but Ricketts was again well-placed to save. Blatherwick brought the crowd to its feet in appreciation for some excellent defensive work on 52, robbing Windass and getting the ball away despite being sat down for all of it!

Windass and Claridge were a handful, but Blathers and Hazell had the better of them. There were concerns, then, when Blatherwick pulled up with a hamstring injury on 59 and was immediately replaced by Alan O'Hare. How would the genial Irishman get on in such a physical battle?

Hall broke through on 60 but was run out of it by the attentions of a defender on each side of him. Picken crossed for Hall a minute later but the ball was put out for a corner; from that, Hall had a good effort held under the bar by Ricketts. Smith used clever touches to get a cross over for Allison; his header looked goal bound but Ricketts rose well to tip it over.

Hazell was pulled up on 68 for a foul on Claridge after City broke with a free kick from a rolling ball. Roche did well to beat away the deflected free kick. Two minutes later Niven broke into the box and was plainly pushed to the ground by Stewart, but not plainly enough for the ref to summon the effort of blowing for a penalty.

Folan replaced the energetic but tiring Larkin on 72, while City replaced the ineffective Kearney with a lively forward in Brown. O'Hare did well to head out for a corner with Claridge pressing at his back: Stewart rose for the flag kick, but headed it just wide.

Claridge was replaced by the debutant Colbeck on 86. The veteran forward won applause on his exit from home fans for an energetic display. With Petta lurking, Picken showed good appreciation to flick a cross behind for a corner on 87.

Chesterfield took the lead on 88, through SMITH. An optimistic sort of ball was put forward for the winger to chase but the cause looked lost until momentary hesitancy between Ricketts and Emanuel left a gap that Smith exploited. Adam's fine touch took the ball goalwards and it clipped a post before rolling home. Smith followed up and buried it, to make sure, and was booked for an enthusiastic celebration.

As the game entered stoppage time Hazell found a heart-stopping back-headed clearance on the line from somewhere to prevent the ball from going in. Holloway was booked for a foul on Smith as the game came to a tense, breathless close.

On overall play, Chesterfield deserved the win, but Bradford's commendable attacking approach might have gained some reward on another day. Picken had a fine game, showing a maturity that belies his youth and inexperience; Nicholson was equally reliable on the other side of defence. The masterly Blatherwick and the unflappable Hazell kept Bradford's veteran front pair at bay throughout, and O'Hare dropped into defence without disrupting the unit at all.

Niven and Clingan battled through the entire game without flagging; Hall got into more scoring areas than Smith but the younger winger had a controlled match that kept the pressure off Nicholson while winning countless throws in advanced positions; even when tired heads began to wonder if the goal might come, Smith kept plugging away and was rewarded. Allison came up against a redoubtable opponent in Weatherall but won his share of the duels, while Larkin had a more purposeful game. Folan came on to give their defence something else to think about in the air, and contributed to attack at an important time.

So the record-equalling run of draws came to an end, with a bit of a scrappy and very late goal. For that, every Chesterfield fan should be delighted! We stand sixth in the league tonight: one can only sympathise with the disappointment of club management and officials, who must wonder what exactly we have to do to attract more than the fiercely loyal four thousand or so to watch us.