Bradford City (U18s) 4-1 Grimsby Town (U18s)

Bradford City (U18s) 4-1 Grimsby Town (U18s)

EFL Youth Alliance

Saturday 6th May 2023

Bradford City signed off the North-East Youth Alliance season in style with this comfortable 4-1 win over Grimsby Town at the different-from-usual setting of the Bodington Football Hub.

In a game which was a mis-match in all honesty; the Bantams fielding a very experienced team including three first-year pros, whereas the Mariners line-up consisted of just U16s and first-year scholars, it’s perhaps not surprising that it was one-way traffic for most of the afternoon.

And if the task looked difficult for Grimsby beforehand, it was made even harder by one of the first incidents of the game as a Grimsby player (didn’t see who) was shown a red card inside the opening 10 minutes when he brought down Isaac Robinson on the edge of the box and was judged to have been the last man.

It was a harsh decision and no leniency or common sense was shown - and when Robinson stepped up and executed the resulting free-kick to absolute perfection; curling it into the bottom corner for his 19th goal of the campaign, you’d have been forgiven for thinking that a long afternoon might be in store for the visitors.

With that one-man advantage plus all their experience and know-how, Bradford really dominated possession, and had all the territory for a prolonged spell after the opener and forced a few chances but they weren’t able to put the ball in the net as both Bobby Pointon and Dylan Youmbi flashed shots wide, and when Grimsby ‘keeper Will Mitchell was called into action he showed really strong and solid wrists to deny the latter of that duo.

It was all one-way traffic until past the half-hour mark but, as the old saying goes, if you don’t take your chances and make the pressure count, it can come back to haunt you and right out of the blue, Grimsby pulled off a surprise equalise to stun Bradford as Heath Richardson parried the ball after a low free-kick into the box and quickest to react was Grayson Giles who showed all the predatory instincts of a top striker to follow up with a sweet finish from a few yards out and suddenly the 10 men were back level.

With Bradford shell-shocked, that equaliser threatened to change the game completely because just a minute or two later, Giles tussled, battled and gave as good as he got in a really physical battle tight to the touchline involving Sam Bentley. Suddenly, he got in-behind and was heading towards the box and the Bradford defender brought him down. A yellow card followed, something was said, and the referee then flashed another in Bentley’s direction. He was off and although nothing came of the resulting free-kick, it was now 10-vs-10 and the referee had very much evened things up.

Both teams could have then taken the lead before the break as the tricky, troublesome and tortuous Isaac Robinson cut inside from the right and saw a powerful effort palmed away at the near-post, whilst Billy Bradley flashed a shot over for Grimsby.

Being level at half-time certainly wasn’t what Bradford expected. It wasn’t acceptable from their perspective and with a few words probably said in an attempt to liven them up during the interval, the boys in claret and amber responded with a dominant second half display in which Grimsby couldn’t get anywhere near them.

Bobby Pointon was so good in the first half and he got even better after the interval and when his mazy run was ended via a clumsy tackle on the edge of the box, Isaac Robinson was left licking his lips. He knew the subsequent free-kick was right in his territory and when he took it, what a hit it was as he curled it over the wall and straight into the top corner. Some finish! Some technique and not a bad way for the league’s top-scoring wing-man (with terrible holes in his socks) to get his 20th for the season!

Again, the floodgates could have opened at this point and had it not been for Will Mitchell, the damage could have been much worse.

Isaac Robinson desperately wanted his hat-trick - everyone could see his desire and determination to get it and he showed some lovely footwork to cut inside on various occasions, bring the ball onto his left-foot and left fly and that resulted in two or three very good saves. Bobby Pointon was also denied, as was Jay Tinsdale, and when big Casey Breaks got his head to a set-piece and made a powerful connection, Will Mitchell once more pulled off yet another fantastic save to leave the Bradford lads as frustrated as Phil & Grant combined.

It was clearly going to take something special again to beat the Grimsby ‘keeper and on the day of the coronation, up stepped king Bobby Pointon to provide the brilliance as the best player I’ve ever watched at this level twisted and turned with the ball on the edge of the box, bringing it superbly onto his lethal left-foot and hammering a 25-yard strike right into the corner within the blink of an eye which not even Mitchell could get near this time.

The technique was superb. For anyone else it would be a stunner, but for Bobby Pointon, that type of goal is just normal.

With Grimsby tiring due to having to work so hard just to keep up and keep track of their opponents, Bradford’s No.17 came on, looked very lively, exploited a few tired legs and eventually scored what proved to be the last goal in the North-East Youth Alliance this season, via a low drive with about 10 minutes left on the clock.

Overall, it was a straightforward win for Bradford and even though the youthfulness and inexperience of Grimsby’s line-up has to be taken into consideration, some of their touches, link-up play and movement was fantastic to watch.

Apart from his socks (terrible), Isaac Robinson was class again and caused all sorts of problems on the right flank and the quality of both his free-kicks were superb. He was in absolutely scintillating form in this game and his technique shone! 

And, personally, it was just superb to watch Bobby Pointon for one last time at this level because apart from one pass which went astray in the second half, everything else he did was quality and I don’t think he gave the ball away. From his touch, to his movement, to his composure, how he moves the ball and glides with it (evident quite a few times) and is just able to so effortlessly bring others into play, it was all superb. 

That’s what I came to this game to see and the king delivered with that quality third goal which his own performance thoroughly merited.

Although they were well-beaten, Grimsby shouldn’t actually be too downbeat because you always learn more when you lose anyway - and the reality is their whole squad will be better for experiences such as this one where they were up against top class players, far too strong for them overall, but well above the standard they’re ever likely to face again in the next two years.

A special mention again to Will Mitchell because without him and his saves, the scoreline could have been a lot worse. He kept them in it, was a contender for the ‘Man Of The Match’ award, put respect to his own name with his performance, and I think even quite a few of the Bradford lads will be willing to acknowledge just how good he was - especially Casey Breaks, Dylan Youmbi, Jay Tinsdale and those others who he denied at times.

And likewise Grayson Giles needs a mention. 

Although he was very isolated at times on his own up top and had a quiet second half before he was substituted, he made two massive contributions; being predatory to react quickest and follow-up for the goal he scored and then (in his best one) to outmuscle Sam Bentley, demonstrate physical strength to get in-behind him, and bring about the foul which led to the red card. He also ought to take confidence because Sam Bentley has been amongst five or six centre-backs in the North-East Youth Alliance this year - so if that’s a marker for Grayson, just imagine the danger he’ll pose when he comes up against those defenders who aren’t quite in Sam’s category! 

He also looked sharp on a few other occasions when he received the ball, and that individual first half performance was a good way to sign off for this season - and evidence of exactly why I believe in what he can do on a pitch. He’ll never lose his knack of being able to score goals (that comes natural) and that nice bit of physicality and aggression is a good trait to have in his locker already.

The result means that Bradford end the season as runners-up. Grimsby end the season in fifth position but it’s another year where they’ve been one of the better teams in the league, generally given a good account of themselves - and all the lads who played for GTFC in this game will become better players for experiences like this one. That is for certain.

I will post the final league table on Twitter in the next few days but roll on the summer, roll on next season - and fingers crossed either Notts County or Chesterfield get promoted because it could mean two or three extra games!

Bradford City: Heath Richardson, Casey Breaks, Noah Wadsworth, Gabe Wadsworth, Leon Brooks, Sam Bentley, Isaac Robinson, Bobby Pointon, Harry Ibbitson, Dylan Youmbi, Jay Tinsdale. Subs: Lewis Boney, Max Murray, Bilal Hussain, Franklin Denison, Eni Rotimi.