Cook hails centre-back pairing

Paul Cook paid tribute to Ian Evatt and Sam Hird after Chesterfield moved into the play-off positions with a 1-0 win over Bradford.

The Spireites,who began the match level on 54 points with 10th-placed Bradford but a position higher because of more goals scored, won the Valley Parade encounter with a goal in first-half stoppage time by Byron Harrison following a mistake by home defender Gary MacKenzie. Harrison intercepted MacKenzie's weak headed back pass to goalkeeper Ben Williams and slotted the ball into the net from close range. Hird also had the ball in the net for the visitors in the 50th minute, but was ruled offside. Their strong defence then shut out the Bantams, who battled to get back into the game in the second half restricting to very few chances. Cook said: "I am always pleased to win, but as the games come down to single figures they carry more significance and we must keep on winning because the situation changes every week in this division. "We have come up against Bradford, who are a very strong side who will come back. I am delighted with the players - I cannot speak too highly of them coming back from a poor performance against Walsall and winning here on a difficult pitch. "Bradford have got a fantastic home record, but we stood up to them." Bradford, who used all three substitutes, could make little impression on Chesterfield defence as they battled for a second-half equaliser although they came close in the 89th minute when keeper Tommy Lee did well to block substitute Tony McMahon's shot with his legs. This defeat, which ended Bradford's unbeaten run of six home league matches, is a blow to their own play-off hopes and manager Phil Parkinson said: "It was a game typical of this time of the season. "Chesterfield matched us up in the midfield area and made it difficult for us. There was nothing in the game, but one mistake cost us, but give Chesterfield credit. Once they got their noses in front they became very difficult to break down. They hung on to their lead very well, but we didn't test the keeper very much. "I am sure if we had not made that mistake we would have got at least a point. It was a good save by the keeper at the end - a key moment." Parkinson said although MacKenzie had made the mistake that cost the match, 'he has been tremendous for us.' He added: "We spoke before the game about playing forward and not back to the keeper."