Bradford City 0 - 0 Everton

Half-time: 0 - 0

The first half was lively but Everton failed to take key chances and it remained 0-0 at half time. Uriah Rennie, of course, had to book Don Hutchison, who now misses Spurs (h) – that was his eighth card of the season.

Collins limped off early in the second half, to be replaced by Cleland. But Bradford's substitution, bringing on ex-Everton Peter Beagrie after 62 mins, had more effect as Bradford pushed Everton hard. Lots of chances went begging in a desperately frantic last 20 mins but it remained 0-0.

Honours were even in the first half with BCFC hitting the post (albeit the outside) but with some nice touches from certain players. Barmby looked composed and I was very impressed with Joe-Max Moore. He appeared committed and chased some half chances. If he can hit it off with either FJ or KC he will be an excellent third choice striker; he acquitted himself well.

Dunne had a good game and at one point in the first half did an excellent dribble up to inside the penalty area for the chance to be squandered – story of the afternoon really. Hutch was good, Collins competent, Weir also had the measure of most that BC threw at us.

As for Unsworth and Pembridge, they were appalling. Unsworth was on to most attacks but give him the ball and he hoofs it nowhere. Pembridge was just plain crap and the stupid thing was he stayed on for 90 minutes. He wasted several nice moves (admittedly he was part of the sharp passing) but then gave it away. What made it less embarrassing was the appalling ball distribution of BC who tried to play a long ball forward only for it to go out of play on at least five occasions.

The second half was ours on balance but they could easily have scored had Saunders not shot closer to Gerrard. Again we had some nice moves, which troubled BC, but they came out of them well. Collins went off limping to bring on Cleland but then he went down to be stretched off. J-MM was taken off for Cadamateri and Cleland replaced by Gemmill. Gemmill was given space in the middle and distributed very well. Sharp and incisive but instead of a match of it we only had 20 minutes or so.

Cada looked good as well. My impression was that he felt comfortable playing his fast running game and looking to feed into the middle – FJ or whoever. Last season I saw him with Bakayoko and with attack after attack going nowhere. This was only a brief glimpse but if he knows there maybe someone in the middle who can finish I feel there is a future for Cada at GP. He is a handful on the right – quick and skilful.

No Michael Ball. If we do not see him soon to replace the awful spectacle of our left side today then I can only assume he has pissed off WS big time.

BC are a reasonable side lacking finish. They defended well and could have sneaked a winner. I think there at least four teams running slower then them at the moment and think we will be playing them next year. Lee Sharpe was anonymous.

Uriah Rennie got some stick from the home side for no free kick against a tackle on Lee Mills (I think). We travelled with some BC supporters and they thought this decision very poor as, soon afterwards, we got a free kick in what they considered similar circumstances. When we said that it was the same for us when Barmby’s legs were taken from him and no free kick given, they did not recall the event. Funny thing being a fan.

Rennie booked DH for dissent and then later was reaching for his cards after Hutch did one of his trademark crunching tackles but fortunately did not give the second yellow card. The last time I saw Rennie, he sent off Hutch against Arsenal. This is the third time I have seen Rennie referee and I have grave concerns about his abilities.

If you know Valley Parade – sorry Bradford & Bingley Stadium – you will know the player entrance is right in the corner by the away fans. We got an excellent view at the end of Jewell chasing Rennie and being kept away after Stuart McCall was booked – again for dissent I think. Rennie has ego problems, which need sorting out. It cannot be a race issue as he booked Cada for something very silly.

One last point on the point-blank miss by Weir with 5 minutes to go. One, he is a defender; and two, the ball was rising and quite high when he struck it. It did not surprise me it went over.

Some good points to the match and I have to say some nice moves and a good debut for Joe-Max Moore – a nice return for Cada. Get rid of Pembridge on this afternoon and bring back Michael Ball.

This was a dreadful game that had less to recommend it than another plate of cold turkey. It was clear to see how Bradford had been beaten 4-0 by Manchester United on Boxing Day but the mystery was how Everton had coincidentally thrashed Sunderland. On a wintry afternoon they were poor, the match was poor and the temperature was worse.

"It was a tight match but we had enough opportunities to win it," Everton's manager, Walter Smith, whose mood was not improved by a calf injury to John Collins that will keep him out for two weeks, said. "We didn't take enough care in the last third of the pitch." Frankly, there was not much in the other two-thirds either.

The afternoon began with Geoffrey Richmond, the Bradford chairman, thanking the supporters for their backing and berating the local council for its lack of support. A proposal to increase Valley Parade's capacity to 25,000 had won only narrow approval and, from the centre circle, he boomed: "It's time that they realise the people who voted them in can vote them out." It was probably a mis-use of power but, as the two teams of players were about to prove, you do not need to hold the purse strings at a club to do that.

The first half was so bad it could have been used as a promotional video for the virtues of watching Test cricket on television. Bradford were tentative and managed only a free-kick from Dean Windass that sailed close to the post after 27 minutes.

Everton, 5-0 winners on Sunday, were without Kevin Campbell, who was given the day off as his wife gave birth to a son, but his replacement, Joe-Max Moore, had a chance after three minutes when David Unsworth's long pass found him at the far post. The American's touch took him beyond Andy Myers but it pushed him too close to Matt Clarke. Little did anyone realise that this would be the closest Everton would come, because they soon stooped from Sunday's form and by the end were scraping along at Bradford's level.

They managed just two more chances of note, a free-kick from Mark Pembridge that grazed the upright and a last-minute header from Nick Barmby that was wastefully pulled wide from eight yards.

Not for the first time this season Bradford, spurred on by the tireless Stuart McCall, got better the longer the game went on and they might have sneaked a win with two headers from Lee Mills midway through the second half.

The first was narrowly wide but the next, from Dean Saunders' 65th-minute cross, was kept out of the Everton goal only by a combination of Paul Gerrard's dive low to his right and the post. On a day Watford won, it was an effort Bradford urgently needed to go into the net.

"I have got to be pleased with a point that might be vital at the end of the season," Bradford's manager, Paul Jewell, said. "We didn't play particularly well and it's a testament to the players that they ground out a result."

It was Bradford City who tried to claim some sort of victory once the numbness created by a chill wind and a soporific match had subsided. Theirs is the position of anxiety in the FA Carling Premiership table and, just two days after a heavy defeat away to Manchester United, the ensuing clean sheet and hard-earned point provided a form of comfort.

For Everton, the glow produced by confirmation that Bill Kenwright, after all, would be assuming control of the club, did not take long to wear off. The opportunities that they spurned at regular intervals yesterday were more marked than usual. But this match was never going to be anything other than a chore, even when, as early as the third minute, Everton looked capable of taking the lead. Joe-Max Moore, the striker making his debut since signing from New England Revolution, found space at the far post but hesitated before shooting and Clarke, the Bradford goalkeeper, had time to save.

Moore, covering for Kevin Campbell, looked far from out of his depth, but there was little doubt that Francis Jeffers was missing his usual partner in the visiting team's attack.

So bereft of imagination were Bradford that they hardly managed an attack in the first half. They decided to trust in frenetic play after the break and, with the decisions of Uriah Rennie, the referee, grating with the crowd, and Stuart McCall acting as the whirling dervish, it nearly worked.

Lee Mills, who had come closest to scoring for Bradford with an opportunistic effort just before the interval, had Everton's hearts even nearer their mouths with half an hour remaining. Saunders's cross was met by a towering header from Mills, but Gerrard's lunge managed to divert the ball on to the post.

Everton, via a Pembridge shot that skimmed the crossbar, later claimed that they had also been denied by the woodwork, while Barmby and Weir misdirected late chances, but it was all circumstantial evidence. Both sides had harboured sound intentions of landing a decisive blow; it was just the execution that left you screaming blue murder.

Yet both sides created sufficient chances for either to have won convincingly enough, Everton monopolising a wretched first half, City taking the honours in a more entertaining second when they squandered four splendid opportunities in a game otherwise devoid of few genuine highs.

Paul Jewel, the Bradford manager, maintained: "It was vital to keep a clean sheet after the result at Old Trafford although the scoreline there didn't do us justice. While we didn't play particularly well against Everton, a point was pleasing and it may prove vital at the end of the season."

His opposite number Walter Smith, who allowed Kevin Campbell, his nine-goal leading scorer, to be with his wife at the birth of their son, was equally satisfied at a point that takes the Premiership unbeaten run to seven points from three games.

Bradford's survival chances now hinge on their ability to retain the same defensive resilience revealed yesterday although there remains an urgent need for greater awareness in the final third.

Rarely will they have a better opportunity to improve on a wretched home scoring return of just nine goals in as many matches as they had against Everton who clearly lacked the killer touch of the absent Campbell.

His replacement, the American striker Joe-Max Moore, missed a fourth minute moment of glory on his first Premiership start when failing in a one-on-one situation with Matthew Clarke. Moore was again wasteful on the half-hour when shooting over, and Nick Barmby was equally careless in similar fashion while Francis Jeffers was twice denied by the alertness of Clarke.

Bradford's second-half domination began when winger Lee Sharpe finally lofted in a splendid ball which saw Dean Saunders force a splendid save from Paul Gerrard.

With the home-side choosing to go wide, balls played in from the flanks saw Lee Mills strike the foot of a post as well as heading wide from an excellent position. Dean Windass shot narrowly over with a long-range attempt. Overall the draw was justified.

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