Bradford City 1 Harrogate Town 0: Bantams finally beat Yorkshire rivals on home soil in relieving victory

It remains to be seen if this latest - and historic - league victory in front of their own supporters is the precursor to a significant surge, unlike the doomed Trussonomics project.

In the here and now, the hope is that it will revive a campaign which had been showing alarming signs of stalling.

Goodwill had been in short supply for Mark Hughes's side of late.

Booed off by a section of their 1,300 supporters at Carlisle on Boxing Day following their fourth successive defeat in all competitions, everyone of a claret and amber persuasion was badly in need of a boost.

Given their pretty rotten time of it of late, the last team who City probably felt like welcoming for Christmas were their near-neighbours from Harrogate.

The Sulphurites had triumphed on their previous three trips to BD8, the most recent being in the FA Cup on Bonfire Night when City were far from illuminating.

Instead, the Bantams rewound the clock to happier times in the first half of autumn when they prevailed in the league fixture for the first time against Harrogate at Wetherby Road.

Their matchwinner that afternoon in Tyreik Wright again came to the party, inside the first minute.

City had their moments in the break, but increasingly it became a grind.

It ultimately became an occasion for getting the job done however it transpired and the hosts managed that with it being a day for the foot-soldiers such as Brad Halliday and Richie Smallwood.

The Bantams were certainly not brilliant or free-flowing, but they stayed together and had each other's backs as Harrogate finally came a cropper at one of their favourite venues.

It is to be hoped that the recording of a league double by City has more than psychologically significance in their season than a few token bragging rights.

Ahead of the game, there were some selection quandaries for Hughes, but not many would have been predicting that he would start with 16-goal top-scorer Andy Cook on the bench, even if he spurned a couple of good chances at Brunton Park.

Vadaine Oliver was promoted and another significant change saw Levi Sutton come in with City utilising a diamond in midfield with Sutton and Gilliead in front of Smallwood.

It was City’s lightning start in their first home encounter which spooked Harrogate’s backline as opposed to their system tinkering.

Wright latched onto Halliday’s probing pass in a flash and cut inside at pace before seeing his drilled low shot take a deflection and beat Pete Jameson.

Given their recent form, it was everything City would have wanted and a nerve-settler, with Wright and Chapman in particular looking up for it.

Conceding goals has been Harrogate’s Achilles heel this term and they looked troubled in that regard at times - particularly down their left.

Going the other way towards City’s other, they were more certain and knocked the ball around in nice enough fashion and confidence and purpose without finding the requisite sting in front of goal with Luke Armstrong kept pretty quiet.

The Sulphurites’ best first-half chance came early when Kayne Ramsay needed no encouragement to surge forward and unleash a well-struck drive which flew just wide.

On the opposing flank, Jaheim Headley showed his prowess going forward if less so defensively at times.

Despite Harrogate’s possession count, City had more of a semblance of goal threat, with an offside flag sparing the blushes of Jameson when Wright netted a rebound after he coughed up Romoney Crichlow’s long-ranger.

At half-time, the game was in the melting pot. A second goal was likely to nail the issue for the hosts, while Harrogate had played nicely enough to believe that a juicy chance or two would come their way if they persisted.

One did soon enough, with Armstrong’s first dangerous moment so nearly producing a leveller with Harry Lewis getting his angles drive to keep out his precision shot after Jack Muldoon’s clever switch of play.

Increasingly, home nerves became a little anxious as key chances to seal victory stubbornly refused to come.

As the clock ticked, City were minded of the importance of game management. The fact that Harrogate’s enthusiasm started to wane a little after being bright and busy for decent spells did aid their cause.

Halliday stung the palms of Jameson, while substitute Abo Eisa fired wide as did Cook at the death. One was enough.

Bradford City: Lewis; Halliday, Platt, Crichlow, Foulds; Sutton (Eisa 67), Smallwood, Gilliead; Chapman (Songo’o 82), Oliver (Cook 74), T Wright. Unused substitutes: Doyle, Odusina, East, Pereira.

Harrogate Town: Jameson; Ramsay; Burrell, Mattock, Headley (Frost 77); Falkingham (Pattison 41), Austerfield; Folarin (M Wright 74), Thomson, Muldoon; Armstrong. Unused substitutes: Giles, Welch-Hayes, Angus, Horbury.

Referee: R Joyce (Teesside).