Patience pays for man from Wollongong

Bradford City 2 Norwich City 1

A mid-table position is rarely cause for celebration, but Bradford City can look upon it with a mixture of pride and relief. They were the first high-profile club to be placed into administration following the collapse of ITV Digital and only earned the right to take their place in this season's First Division the day before it started.

This hard-earned victory over a Norwich City side that remain second in the league preserved an unbeaten home record – albeit one containing six draws – and leaves them a single place outside the top-half of the table.

It is a proud record, borne in adversity, achieved by a decimated squad that contains two forwards, Ashley Ward and Danny Cadamarteri. "We did have three when we brought Michael Proctor in, but almost immediately Danny got a three-match ban so we were back down to two," said the Bradford manager, Nicky Law. "Now Michael's going back to Sunderland and we haven't got any sort of cover again.

"People know we haven't got much money, but think it's easy to get lads in on loan deals. The problem is, we can't afford their wages, unless the other club is prepared to help out. We can't buy the finished article and the sort of players we can afford might struggle to do a job at this level."

One player Law has managed to secure is the Australian midfielder Paul Reid, signed from Wollongong Wolves in the summer. On his full debut, the 23-year-old scored both his side's goals, the first a fierce drive from 25 yards. "He's been patient and I felt the timing was right to give him his chance," Law said.

The paucity of Bradford's striking options was in direct contrast to their opponents, who started the game with three forwards and brought on a fourth, Zema Abbey, after they had fallen two goals behind. His headed goal meant that Iwan Roberts should have given Norwich a point with his last-minute penalty. Not for the first time, however, he was thwarted by the Bradford goalkeeper Steve Banks, who played under Nigel Worthington when they were both at Blackpool. "I obviously trained him too well," concluded the rueful Norwich manager.

Goals: Reid (41) 1-0; Reid (55) 2-0; Abbey (70) 2-1.

Bradford City (4-4-2): Banks; Uhlenbeek, Molenaar Bower, Myers; Gray, Reid, Warnock, Jacobs (Proctor, 81); Cadamarteri, Ward. Substitutes not used: Davison (gk), Carricondo, Standing, Evans.

Norwich City (4-4-2): Green; Nedergaard, Kenton, MacKay, Drury (Heckinbottom, 16); Southall, Mulryne (Emblen, 64), Holt, McVeigh (Abbey, 64); Roberts, Nielsen. Substitutes not used: Crichton (gk), Fleming.

Referee: P Danson (Leicester).

Bookings: Bradford: Ward, Uhlenbeek. Norwich: Southall, Mulryne.

Man of the match: Reid.

Attendance: 12,888.