Graham Alexander hails Bradford performance as Bromley see unbeaten run ended

Graham Alexander felt Bradford earned a “great three points” after securing a 3-1 win to inflict a first defeat of the season on Bromley.

The Ravens, who had won their opening two games following promotion to the EFL, were down to 10 men from the eighth minute when Ashley Charles was sent off for a handball on the line.

Richie Smallwood scored the resulting penalty, with further goals from Andy Cook and Bobby Pointon lifting Bradford to second in the early League Two table.

Bromley captain Byron Webster headed a late consolation.

Alexander said: “It was a great three points. Everybody knew the start Bromley had made to their league history.

“I thought we started in good fashion and the penalty was obvious. I’m glad we got that decision because it was so clear.

“There can be pressure when you’re against 10 men and everyone expects you to just romp away. We had to be guarded about that and not think about what the potential end score could be. We had to stay in the present.

“There were a couple of times we lost a little bit of focus but overall we created loads of chances.

“It was a great penalty from Richie and then the goal before half-time was a relief for us not to be on that knife-edge going into the second half.

“We could have scored more and I was delighted with Bobby’s goal, very similar to a couple he got last season.

“The only blot was the goal against – the players were sorting that out between themselves in the changing room.”

Bromley boss Andy Woodman admitted the match had been a tough learning curve for his team.

“The sending-off was a big moment. We had over 80 minutes with 10 men,” he said.

“For them to score the penalty gave them another lift. It’s a tough ask, it’s a tough ask coming here with 11, but I still felt we had some chances.

“The lads will be disappointed with the goals we conceded, they weren’t great regardless of the numbers on the pitch.

“We kept going and we didn’t drop our heads. There was a lot for us to learn there and we’ll go again.

“We’re going to have some days like this and we can’t get too down. We had a go, we tried our best but we were a little bit open then and it was tough going.

“The guys should be proud of the effort they put in with 10 men because it was a big shift.

“Credit to Bradford for moving the ball around well and switching play and putting in some good crosses.

“The second goal was a killer because if we’d got to half-time, we might have given ourselves a bit of a chance.”