Applause

Back at Valley Parade for the first time in a couple of months, and we started with a minute’s applause for Gianluca Vialli who died from cancer a few days ago. He was a former Chelsea team mate of City manager Mark Hughes.

Conditions were tricky. Heavy rain all day meant the pitch was sticky but playable.

Rochdale were the visiting team. The phrase “across the Pennines” is often used in these occasions, but the geographical reality is that Rochdale and Bradford are both in the South Pennines, just on different sides of the watershed. There is more in common than divides. (Says the Welshman who has lived at length in both Lancashire and Yorkshire :) )

Rochdale hadn’t won away all season, were on a long losing streak and sitting second from bottom of the table. As any football fan will tell you, those are ominous stats to come up against. City took a deserved 1-0 lead into the break, but a dubious penalty for Rochdale shifted momentum and the visitors scrambled in a second shortly after. 1-2 it finished.

City are still in the play-off places but just can’t seem to string together the steady stream of good results that might lift them into the automatic promotion places. Still, half a season to go.