Bradford boss Mark Hughes hailed Alex Gilliead’s versatility after the half-time substitute secured a 1-1 draw against Grimsby.
Gilliead, making his first appearance in almost a month after recovering from a thigh injury, blasted in an 89th-minute equaliser with the hosts’ only shot on target.
His spectacular strike cancelled out Danny Rose’s first-half opener for the Mariners and also denied Grimsby a first win over the Bantams since 1998 – a run that now encompasses 19 contests.
Gilliead only scored once last season – also against Grimsby – but his introduction at half-time in the centre of midfield, despite being better known as a winger, allowed the Bantams to find some much-needed forward momentum.
Hughes said: “He’s a great athlete and we have missed his versatility. When you can’t call on that, you recognise what he gives you a bit more.
“He gets a bit of ribbing because he doesn’t score too many goals but that was an important one for us. We were poor in the first half – we had four home debuts so there was a little bit of disruption to our playing 11.
“We wanted to press but that never happened and we tried to make changes but it was clear more radical changes were needed at half-time. We went to four at the back and that helped us a great deal and we then really forced the issue and got the goal we deserved.
“We needed wingers to stop their wing-backs and we were much better in the second half. We were on the front foot and I think the players understood what we needed and did the fundamentals better.”
Grimsby boss Paul Hurst admitted it was a bitter pill to swallow after he saw Gilliead – a player he has signed twice in the past for Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe – deny the Mariners a long-overdue three points against Bradford.
He took solace, though, from his team racking up a fifth league game unbeaten at a vociferous Valley Parade.
“He’s a good player and made a difference for them,” Hurst admitted.
“It’s just a shame that he wasn’t still injured for another week, but it was a great strike and he’s scored a couple against us now.
“They hadn’t had many shots at all, but it was a good goal and it was a big improvement from them in the second half. It was just a difficult one for us to take with them scoring so late but, at the same time, there were lots of positives to take from the game, especially in our first-half performance and a point at Bradford is a relatively good result.
“We’ve come here a few times and got nothing, so we will take a point and it’s another game unbeaten, which is the sign of a good team.”
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