Bradford City 0
Charlton Athetic 1 (Forster-Caskey 74)
Saturday 21st October 2017 | Sky Bet League One | Northern Commercials Stadium at Valley Parade
Attendance: 20,066 (624 visitors)
A second half goal by Jake Forster-Caskey proved enough to send the Bantams to a victory on a miserable Saturday afternoon. City were left frustrated by an impressive goalkeeping performance by Athletic's stopper Ben Amos and Karl Robinson's side held on for a victory.
City had the first sight of goal through Alex Gilliead after a few minutes but his attempt from 30 yards was tame and held easily by Amos, Ricky Holmes' effort down the other end, however, not so tame. The Charlton winger dug out a shot from 20 yards which was pushed behind precariously by a back-tracking Colin Doyle.
Omari Patrick turned the ball wide after meeting Gilliead's corner and then Holmes had another sight of goal, this time the angle proving too tight as he lashed a shot wide of the mark.
Billy Clarke was making his first return to the Northern Commercials Stadium as a Charlton player since his move to London in the summer and he came a whisker away from opening the scoring with a low drive from the edge of the box which went just wide.
Amos made his first eye-catching save of the afternoon on the half hour mark to deny Charlie Wyke. Nathaniel Knight-Percival kept Nicky Law's delivery alive to present Wyke with the opportunity and he was denied by a point-blank stop.
Ahmed Kashi saw a half volley held onto by Doyle after a Holmes corner was only headed half clear and then the latter had another chance of his own from a free-kick, but his attemt missed the target by a yard or so.
Holmes almost did get his goal early in the second half in fortuitious fashion;he hit a hopeful cross into the box which seemingly caught a gust of wind before swerving onto the crossbar.
The chances continued to come the way of both teams in the second half and after Dieng and Patrick came close for the Bantams, Doyle had to be at his best to keep out a 20-yard shot from Jake Forster-Caskey.
It was Forster-Caskey who settled the match ultimatley with 16 minutes plus added time to go. Chris Solly motored down the right-hand side and his cross was met by Tariqe Fosu who saw a mis-hit shot fall into Forster-Caskey's path to score from close range.
Amos continued to win his battle with Wyke and after the latter connected with Patrick's cross, the Bolton loanee stopper made another excellent save. A minute later, he pushed Matthew Kilgallon's header onto the bar after the stand-in City skipper connected with Gilliead's corner.
Bradford City
Doyle, Hendrie, Knight-Percival, Kilgallon (c), Field, Reeves, Dieng, Gilliead, Patrick, Law, Wyke
Substitutes:
Hanson for Field (73)
Robinson for Dieng (83)
McCartan for Patrick (88)
Unused Substitutes:
Raeder, Thompson, Devine, Jones
Yellow Cards:
Dieng, Reeves, Knight-Percival
Charlton Athletic
Amos, Solly (c), Konsa, Bauer, Sarr, Forster-Caskey, Kashi, Holmes, Fosu, Clarke, Magennis
Substitutes
Dasilva for Fosu (87)
Reeves for Clarke (87)
Jackson for Holmes (90+3)
Unused Substitutes:
Phillips, Aribo, Ahearne-Grant, Dodoo
Yellow Cards:
Bauer
Goals: Forster-Caskey (74)