Bradford and Darlo share spoils

Bradford were forced to settle for a point as fellow promotion hopefuls Darlington held them to a 0-0 draw.

Honours even between promotion hopefuls

Bradford were forced to settle for a point as fellow promotion hopefuls Darlington held them to a 0-0 draw at Valley Parade. Stuart McCall's side had marginally the better of a hard-fought encounter, although Darlington finished the game strongly and might feel unfortunate not to have nicked all three points. The first chance saw Bradford's Michael Boulding test Quakers goalkeeper Dean Gerken with a low shot from 15 yards. The hosts went even closer shortly after the half hour as veteran forward Peter Thorne tried his luck with a looping effort from 12 yards which beat Gerken but cannoned back off the crossbar. Bradford threatened again 11 minutes after the break with substitute Joe Colbeck, on for the injured Omar Daley, firing narrowly over following a superb crossfield pass from Dean Furman. At the other end, Danny Carlton saw a shot deflected narrowly wide of the near post by Zesh Rehman but the Quakers were unable to frequently test home goalkeeper Rhys Evans, who was clearly restricted in his movement after picking up a leg injury in the first half. Evans was called into action with 10 minutes remaining, however, as he tipped Pawel Abbott's fearsome half-volley over the bar before Darlington substitute Liam Hatch saw a curling shot fly inches over in the closing stages.