Bobby Pointon scored after four minutes, Bradford defended for another 90-odd, and City left one of the most unique grounds in English football sitting top of League One.
There aren’t many away days quite like Luton.
Kenilworth Road somehow manages to feel cramped, chaotic and brilliant all at once. You walk in wondering how a ground like this still exists at this level, then spend the next two hours almost on top of the pitch with the home support equally close on the other side. It’s old-school football in the best possible way, and always one of those grounds you’re glad you made the trip to.
It became considerably more enjoyable about four minutes after kick-off.
Bobby Pointon’s early header proved enough for Bradford City to win 1–0, make it three straight league victories and, more importantly, end Saturday sitting top of League One. It was also City’s first victory at Kenilworth Road since April 1968.
Not bad for an afternoon out in Bedfordshire.
Four minutes, one chance, one goal
Bradford have made a habit of doing things the hard way this season, so scoring almost immediately was a welcome change.
Kayden Jackson, brought into the starting XI, did really well down the right and delivered a hanging cross towards the back post. At first it didn’t look particularly dangerous, but Pointon attacked it brilliantly and somehow guided his header beyond James Shea from a difficult angle.
Shea probably won’t enjoy watching it back, but that shouldn’t take much away from Pointon. Graham Alexander described the header afterwards as “unbelievable”, and there was plenty to admire in the timing and determination to get onto the end of it.
It was exactly the sort of moment Pointon needed too. He hasn’t quite exploded into this season in the way some might have expected, but within four minutes at Luton he looked sharper, more aggressive and much more like the Bobby we know.
And once City had the lead, the game changed completely. Luton had the ball. Bradford had the game where they wanted it. If you only looked at the final statistics, you might wonder how comfortable this actually was. Luton finished with around 64% possession, 15 shots and 14 corners, while Bradford had only five attempts and three corners. Yet both teams managed just three shots on target.
That tells the story better than the possession figure does.
Luton had lots of the ball, particularly during the first half. Liam Walsh was finding space at the base of midfield, while Kasey Palmer repeatedly drifted into awkward positions between Bradford’s midfield and back line. City couldn’t always stop Luton getting into promising areas, and there were certainly spells when the home side looked in control territorially.
What Luton couldn’t do was turn any of that control into enough genuinely dangerous chances.
Palmer curled one wide. Emilio Lawrence forced McCracken into action. Callum Marshall had opportunities where Luton might have expected better. But considering the possession, territory and sheer number of corners, Bradford never really reached the point where it felt like the goal was inevitably coming.
That says a lot about the defensive structure Alexander has built.
This back three is becoming seriously difficult to break down
There is nothing glamorous about throwing yourself in front of shots, winning headers and constantly clearing your box.
Fortunately, nobody appears to have told this Bradford defence.
Aden Baldwin and Matt Pennington were excellent when Luton started finding spaces in the first half, while George Pratt continues to look increasingly at home in the side. In front of them, Callum Connolly once again did the kind of work that rarely dominates a highlights package but makes the whole system function.
Jon McCracken ended up with another clean sheet, but this wasn’t one where he needed to produce five miraculous saves. Bradford protected him extremely well and Luton did not seriously test him again until very late on, when Gideon Kodua’s effort was comfortably gathered.
That is now five clean sheets in seven League One matches.
At some point, you probably have to stop describing that as simply a good run.
The second half showed another side to City
There was an improvement after the break too.
Luton had found gaps through Bradford’s press in the first half, but City came back out noticeably more aggressive and started disrupting the game higher up the pitch. The home side were still seeing plenty of possession, but it became slower, more broken and increasingly frustrating for a crowd that could sense the game slipping away from them.
It wasn’t pretty football, but it was smart football.
City won fouls, broke up attacks, got bodies around the ball and generally made the second half as irritating as possible for Luton.
That might not win many awards for entertainment, but when you’re 1–0 ahead away from home it’s difficult to complain too much.
The strange thing was that, despite having such a narrow lead, the final twenty minutes never really developed into the siege you might have expected. There were nerves in the away end because there are always nerves in the away end at 1–0, but on the pitch Bradford looked relatively calm.
Then came Nahki Wells…
You could almost feel the away end waiting for this one.
Former City striker Nahki Wells was eventually introduced with around 15 minutes remaining, which was greeted with the sort of reception you would probably describe as less than affectionate. Wells remains a complicated figure for Bradford supporters: a major part of that brilliant 2012/13 side, but also the man who left for Huddersfield Town in 2014.
Fourteen years later, it appears certain sections of the City support have still not forgotten.
There was even a false start when Jordan Clark came on earlier and parts of the away end initially appeared to think he was Wells, meaning Clark briefly received someone else’s abuse before everyone realised the actual Nahki was still sat on the bench.
When Wells finally did arrive, the volume went up again.
He couldn’t change the game.
Which made the chants considerably easier to enjoy.
Ashby gets his own farewell
Harrison Ashby was the other familiar face.
The Newcastle full-back spent the second half of last season on loan at Bradford, making eight League One appearances before joining Luton for this campaign.
He was getting plenty from the away end throughout the afternoon and eventually managed to give City supporters one final thing to celebrate when he was dismissed deep into stoppage time following an incident with Corey O’Keeffe.
Not exactly the reunion he’ll have imagined.
For a game that had spent most of the second half threatening to quietly drift towards 1–0, the red card at least gave the away end one last opportunity to make some noise.
The one concern: injuries
It wasn’t a completely perfect afternoon.
Josh Neufville had to come off shortly after the hour, with Kieran Morgan replacing him, before Baldwin was also withdrawn late on. Both have been important to how City have started the season, so their condition is probably the biggest thing to watch after the international break.
Kayden Jackson deserves credit for how City adapted after Neufville went off. His versatility meant Alexander could reshuffle without the entire shape falling apart, which is exactly the sort of thing good squads need when injuries inevitably start arriving.
Hopefully neither problem proves serious.
There is still an attacking question
As impressive as this start has been, there is an obvious area where Bradford can still improve.
City scored once from five attempts at Luton. They scored once at Notts County. Once against Mansfield. The defence is currently so good that one goal keeps being enough, but it would be asking a lot for that to continue indefinitely.
That isn’t necessarily a criticism of the striker or one particular attacking player either. Bradford as a team need to start producing more sustained attacking threat.
And perhaps that's what makes the league position particularly exciting.
City are top of League One without really looking like everything has clicked going forward yet.
If Alexander can maintain this defensive structure while getting more from the attacking players, there could be considerably more to come.
Another away win that feels significant
Look at the away trips City have already had.
Sheffield Wednesday.
Plymouth.
Notts County.
Luton.
Bradford have taken nine points from those four games, winning at Wednesday, Notts and now Luton.
That is an impressive return from a difficult set of fixtures.
And this one probably tells us something slightly different from the others.
Luton had the ball. They had 14 corners. They had periods where their midfield looked better. Bradford simply refused to give them the thing that actually mattered.
A goal.
There’s a resilience and stubbornness developing in this side that feels very Alexander, and right now it’s producing results.
Bantams Unfiltered verdict
This wasn't a brilliant attacking performance and it wasn't a game Bradford controlled for 90 minutes.
It was arguably something more useful.
City scored early, survived the period when Luton were on top, adjusted after half-time and then suffocated the game to the point where a side with 64% of the ball and 14 corners barely looked like scoring.
There will come a point where Bradford need to find more goals. You cannot plan an entire promotion push around winning 1–0 every Saturday.
Although judging by the last few weeks, Graham Alexander might be tempted to try.
For now, though, the numbers are difficult to argue with.
Seven games. Five clean sheets. Another difficult away win. Top of League One.
And after waiting since 1968 to win at Kenilworth Road, we can probably forgive ourselves for enjoying this one.
Luton Town 0–1 Bradford City.
This is starting to look like more than just a good start.
Bantams Unfiltered
Bradford City. Straight opinions. No nonsense.
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