STEVEN Schumacher was pleased to see Wanderers complete the first part of their play-off objective but warned his side: “It’s only half time!”
Amario Cozier-Duberry’s brilliant finish on the hour settled a tense tie between two well-matched sides, giving the Whites a boost as they go to West Yorkshire on Thursday night looking to complete the job.
Having drawn both league games against the Bantams, Schumacher expected nothing other than a tough night’s work.
“It was a good game, a tight game, just as we expected,” he said. “Two teams, really competitive and we are glad to have got ourselves on the front foot, overall.
“That was the objective, to try and get ahead in the tie going to Valley Parade, so it’s pleasing.”
Cozier-Duberry took his tally to 10 goals for the season and nearly added an 11th a couple of minutes later, bouncing a shot off the inside of the post after picking off a loose pass from Curtis Tilt.
“It was a really good goal, a real moment of quality, which we've seen him do so many times for us this year,” Schumacher said. “We spoke at half-time about him just staying a little bit more patient and coming in from the wide areas. Obviously, the way Bradford play, the central areas and the pitch get really congested and it was hard for him to find space but coming in from that right-hand side, he found a ball from the opposite winger and dispatched it, so it was a great goal.
“I couldn’t believe he didn’t get a second one. He did really well, intercepted the pass, and when he ran through, I thought ‘here’s a chance’ because we have seen him score so many times off his right foot in that position.
“I thought he did everything right to get it across the goal, hard and low, and unfortunately it hit the inside of the post.
“I don't know how it missed the other post, but it did. We didn't get ourselves 2-0 ahead, but we can't complain, it was a tough game.
“I’m glad to get another clean sheet, that was important, and we look forward to next week.”
Wanderers drew 1-1 at Valley Parade just a couple of weeks ago in front of a partisan home crowd and Schumacher expects an even more hostile atmosphere for Thursday’s decider.
“This is only half-time, we've got another really tough game to go there in what's going to be an intimidating atmosphere, which we've seen two weeks ago, so yes, it's a good challenge for us.
“We knew when we had this tie that it was going to be tight, it was that tonight, and we've managed to get ourselves in front, which was the important thing that we wanted to try and achieve.”
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