Bradford City squandered a golden chance to keep up with Lincoln City and Cardiff City in the League One promotion race, falling to defeat to West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town.
The Bantams headed to the Accu Stadium six points behind the Imps following their victory in midweek over Burton Albion, but faced a hostile atmosphere with the Terriers looking to make a perfect start under new manager Liam Manning.
City Not At The Races
However, it was a dire start to the game for the away side, who gave possession away cheaply on a number of occasions, with the first half dotted with the usual derby day antics on the pitch between Aden Baldwin and Marcus McGuane.
After escaping a fair few close shaves, Huddersfield finally delivered the ultimate blow halfway through the opening period, with Marcus Harness comfortably slotting home after Sam Walker parried away Bojan Radulovic’s header.
With multiple opportunities to extend their advantage, Town perhaps found themselves unfortunate not to have put the game to bed in a similar fashion to how Bradford did in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
#htafc 1-0 BCAFC
Terriers.
[⏰30’] pic.twitter.com/euyRgpR7Es
— Huddersfield Town (@htafc) January 24, 2026
Graham Alexander’s side came back out in the second half with much more tenacity, replacing the shaky Joe White and Josh Neufville with Louie Sibley and Harrison Ashby, respectively.
City’s issues up front reared their head again, with Stephen Humphrys largely anonymous in a game where City had just one attempt on goal until the final half hour.
While they were given some hope of getting back into the game with Harness’s second yellow card for a late challenge, Braford failed to make their numbers advantage count, with the home side seeing out the game fairly comfortably.
Imps Can Deal Final Blow
With Bradford now facing Lincoln in midweek action, there is a real opportunity for the Sincil Bank side to put a final nail in the coffin of Bradford’s promotion hopes.
This was a vital two-week period for the Bantams, and could have put them in a brilliant place to get themselves into the Championship, but have failed to deliver against Cardiff City and now Huddersfield Town.
Considering how dominant Michael Skubala’s side have been as of late, Lincoln can open up a sizable gap with victory at home and perhaps put one foot over the line in their bid to get into the second tier.
Still Much To Do In The Window
The games against Mansfield Town, Cardiff and now Huddersfield have highlighted one key thing which will likely decide Bradford City’s fate over the rest of the season – they need a proper striker to lead the line.
Stephen Humphrys and Will Swan can certainly have their moments in matches, but as of late, neither have been able to deliver consistently enough to put them in with a real chance of going up.
Graham Alexander has to use the remainder of the window to find a true replacement for Andy Cook since his exit to Grimsby Town, otherwise the Bantams may be pulled in by the pack behind them, with City having a seven-point buffer on Luton Town in seventh.