Bradford City vs Stevenage. Sky Bet League Two.
University of Bradford StadiumAttendance14,257.
Wednesday 18 August 2021 08:00, UK
Andy Cook scored a first-half hat-trick as Bradford maintained their unbeaten league start to the season with a 4-1 win over Stevenage at Valley Parade.
It was Stevenage's first defeat of the campaign - they had previously won three in a row - two in the league and one in the League Cup.
Bradford made the perfect start, Cook putting them ahead in the first minute. Charles Vernam fed left-back Liam Ridehalgh on the overlap and his cross from the left found Cook unmarked at the far post to head the Bantams into the lead.
Stevenage equalised against the run of play in the 17th minute when the Bradford defence failed to clear and Elliott List scored with a low shot from 15 yards.
Bradford were given a great chance to restore their lead in the 30th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Luther Wildin tripped Vernam in the box.
However, Lee Angol, who scored Bradford's last-gasp winner from the spot against Oldham last Saturday saw his penalty saved by Joseph Anang.
The miss was not costly, however, because the ball went out for a corner on the left and when the visitors' defence failed to clear Cook scored Bradford's second with a left-foot shot through a crowded goalmouth.
Cook completed his hat-trick - the first by a Bradford player for almost four years - in the 38th minute when he chased a long ball out of defence from right-back Finn Cousin-Dawson and muscled his way past a defender before beating the advancing Anang with a right-foot shot.
Cook and Callum Cooke came close to adding to the Bantams' lead in the second half before defender Niall Canavan put the seal on a richly deserved victory with a fourth goal - a close-range header from Ollie Crankshaw's cross when Cooke's corner was only partially cleared.
