Bradford City Women’s up then down then up then down form continued on Sunday, as they crashed down from cloud nine in a 3-1 defeat to Derby County.
Just like the derby victory over Huddersfield Town was followed by a 4-0 loss to Blackburn Rovers, this week the levels of that 5-1 hammering of Stoke City couldn’t be reached in the Midlands.
A rocky start, with Jess Graham subbed off through injury before Derby broke the deadlock, made the Bantams’ life very difficult.
When Samantha Griffiths fired in a second for County, City tried to reshuffle to adjust to such an early substitute and looked to have settled down.
Hannah Campbell had a couple of chances, while fellow forward Lucy Sowerby tried her luck in front of goal, but Derby made their dominance count with a third on the stroke of half time.
The break was needed for City to find their bearings. They hadn’t had time to really reorganise, and something had to change.
Rosie McDonnell was introduced in the search of three second half goals, but County started very strongly.
After heading an early corner over the bar, another was this time directed towards Charlotte Oates’ goal, but the City ‘keeper made a fine fingertip save to keep her team in it.
The effort was there. All over the pitch, every single player put in a shift to try and earn City a bit of luck. However, as the clock continued to tick by, it was going to take something more than hard work to get a result.
Sowerby had a chance one-on-one while McDonnell was providing the Bantams with an effective outlet down the left, but it wasn’t until the latter stages that City actually managed to get on the scoresheet.
After all her grafting up top, Campbell was the scorer, but it was going to be too little too late.
It was Derby who applied late pressure as Oates was forced into a couple more strong saves before the final whistle, denying both Natalia Reay and Nicholls.
Sowerby came within inches of adding a bit more respectability to the scoreline in the final seconds, but the woodwork denied her as Derby ran out deserved winners on the day.
City have very little time to dwell on the result though. Local rivals Huddersfield await once more on Wednesday in the perfect game to bounce back.
Buoyed by a 5-2 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday, the Terriers will be out for revenge after losing the reverse of the derby 1-0.
However, Bradford will be determined to bounce back and this defeat will certainly be on their minds as they made the short journey down the M62.
