Parkin ponders penalty decision

Bradford's assistant boss Steve Parkin was critical of referee Seb Stockbridge after his side were held to a 1-1 draw by Port Vale.

Stockbridge awarded a penalty against City and did not give one in their favour as the Bantams ended a run of three successive home league defeats. The visitors took the lead in the 12th minute when defender Rory McArdle was judged to have handled a shot from Louis Dodds. Despite Bradford protests, the referee awarded a penalty and Chris Lines scored from the spot. However, seven minutes later Bradford midfielder Gary Liddle was fouled on the edge of the penalty area by Vale captain Carl Dickinson. City players claimed the offence took place just inside the box, but the referee awarded a free-kick on the edge and the danger was cleared. Parkin said: "We all thought the penalty against Rory McArdle was a harsh decision. He couldn't get out of the way of the ball. "When there are shots at goal we ask our players to get in blocks, but keep their arms down. "In my view, it was a genuine effort to block the ball and it should not have been a penalty. "I was disappointed with the first decision. "The second decision may have been difficult for the referee to make. "It was definitely a foul and he had to decide whether it was inside or outside the box. "He ought to have had help from the linesman. He was in line with the incident and could have made the decision for the referee a lot easier. "In my opinion it would then have been a penalty." Parkin praised midfielder Mark Yeates, who scored a superb equaliser in first-half stoppage time. Vale defender Richard Duffy was booked for a foul on Billy Clarke and Yeates scored with a 25-yard free-kick that soared into the top corner. Parkin added: "Mark Yeates has had a real positive attitude since coming back pre-season. "He never shies away from having the football no matter how he is playing. "He showed a lot of character. He was bold enough to take the free-kick and what a great one it was." Bradford are showing contrasting home and away form and, while they are unbeaten in five on the road in the league, they have won only one of five at Valley Parade. Parkin said: "Away from home we look as if can beat anyone and we have picked up some great points in away matches. "Here, the first half was just okay, muddling along, but in the second half we took the game to Port Vale and we should have come away with all three points. "The key thing for us is to take that positive second-half display into our next game against Crewe next Saturday." Gary Liddle went closest to scoring for Bradford in a fiercely-fought second half when Vale goalkeeper Chris Neal made a brilliant save, tipping his 25-yard shot over the crossbar in the 58th minute. Vale's best effort came when Chris Birchall headed the ball against the upright in the 61st minute, a minute after coming on as substitute, but neither side could break the deadlock. Vale's interim manager Rob Page, in temporary charge following the departure of Micky Adams, said he had not seen a video of the penalty incident and declined to comment. "Bradford are a good side and we knew we were in for a tough game here," he said. "We needed to match them physically, be disciplined about our defensive shape and do our stuff. "Maybe when we got the ball we could have used it better, but we worked hard for our point. "There were spells in the second half when Bradford had a lot of the ball and we changed our shape to match them, but that didn't work so we changed it back again. "Chris Birchall came on to brighten things up with his energy and nearly scored and Ben Williamson did the same when he came off the bench. "It was great save by Chris Neal in the second half. He is in good form and long may may it continue."