Graham Alexander described his Bradford side as “absolutely relentless” after they saw off in-form Colchester to get their promotion push back on track.
Calum Kavanagh and George Lapslie both scored twice in front of a 23,381 crowd – the largest at Valley Parade for a fourth-tier game.
Bradford’s 4-1 win, after suffering successive 1-0 defeats to Gillingham and Tranmere, leaves them a point behind League Two leaders Walsall.
Manager Alexander said: “I thought we were absolutely relentless.
“Any knockback in the game, like conceding, we just got on with it. We didn’t feel sorry for ourselves or panic and we played some brilliant football.
“We pressed Colchester all the time. We were so trusting of each other and committed to our game – we were us and didn’t try to change anything after the previous two results.
“It was great to watch and be a part of. I was extremely proud of the squad today.
“Colchester came here with their tails up. They are a good team and have just got into the play-offs so were in confident mood.
“Why wouldn’t they try and come here and win? But I thought we played well last week without a real cutting edge, but today we had that and could have scored a couple more.
“It was an occasion because we knew there was going to be a record crowd. We knew they would be an expectant crowd, but I think they’ll be a happy one after that.”
Kavanagh broke the deadlock after 32 minutes with a close-range finish.
Colchester quickly equalised when Harry Anderson lashed home after Jack Payne’s shot was saved but Bradford went back in front before the break with Lapslie’s sharp header from Tayo Adaramola’s cross.
Owura Edwards missed a one-on-one to level and was made to pay when Kavanagh and Lapslie both struck again.
It was Colchester’s first league loss since January 4, with their subsequent run of nine wins and four draws taking them into the play-off places.
Manager Danny Cowley said: “Bradford were excellent today, very powerful and purposeful and found a really good tempo to the way they played.
“We’ve had a difficult week with three or four who’ve been unwell and we were really struggling with Lyle (Taylor), Jack Payne and Ellis (Iandolo) in particular.
“Having said that, after a really good start to the game, we’re really disappointed at how we defended crosses and defended the box.
“What happens in these big games playing in front of 23,000, when you give the opponents something, momentum plays a huge part in football and it got their crowd up.
“It was a poor first goal and then a great response from us to get the equaliser. We needed to manage our emotions in that moment but we didn’t defend well enough.
“If you watched our whole performances, there were some good and bad parts to it. We were very up and down and erratic in our execution.”
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