Review of Bradford City's up-and-down League Two season

It seems a fittingly off-kilter way to sum up a season that some thought wouldn’t finish – and most are glad is now over.

The hope of rescuing a wretched campaign on the back of that remarkable winter resurgence faded the moment Newport’s Matty Dolan struck a precise free-kick to equalise at the Cardiff City stadium.

And it came from a foul that never was, which made it sting even more.

Then Levi Sutton’s rush of blood to cough up a cheap penalty for the midfielder to score again in stoppage time threw salt into the wound.

Comfortable progress towards a sixth win in seven had been turned on its head in the last 15 minutes – and March 9 would effectively signal the end of the play-off pursuit. City were never the same team again.

The fact they had got within striking range of the top seven was an achievement in itself given the precarious position that Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars had taken on when Stuart McCall was sacked in mid-December.

But equally, three months of hugely-impressive results were effectively wasted by an awful finish.

Once more, City will head into the summer at a crossroads.

However much the January window was trumpeted – and it did provide the immediate impetus while shedding a lot of the squad’s “dead wood” – another clear-out is in the offing.

It is familiar territory at the end of every season for clubs in the lower divisions. City, as we know well, are no exception.

Ben Richards-Everton is subbed in the first half during Stuart McCall's final game

If the fans are to be enticed back with any enthusiasm, they need to see a lot more.

The recent flat performances and worse results have been a terrible selling point.

Trueman and Sellars completed their brief of stabilising a club teetering on the edge with remarkable speed.

But they became victims of their own success as results tailed off. Sellars made a valid point last week that it would have been better if their points haul had been spread out more evenly.

Ultimately, a bottom-half finish represents yet another year of under-achievement.

Watching the likes of Cheltenham, Cambridge and Morecambe – all teams beaten under the management duo – flying high is tough to take. Bolton, too, transformed their season from a start every bit as miserable as City’s.

Victory at the University of Bolton Stadium in the Carabao Cup on opening day seems a lifetime ago.

A solid first month was punctured by home defeat to new boys Harrogate in front of the TV cameras – and then everything unravelled as injuries hit.

McCall’s decision to leave a fifth of the £1.5 million salary cap unspent in the summer window came back to bite him hard.

Lee Novak scores a stunning goal as City beat Grimsby in December

The biggest failure was to bring in another striker. McCall spoke of unsuccessful attempts for the likes of Jordy Hiwula, Ian Henderson and Nicky Maynard – there were also a suggestion that he turned down the chance for Paul Mullin, who went on to top 30 goals with Cambridge.

Lee Novak’s injury meant Clayton Donaldson was almost flogged to death for a couple of months. Wolves youngster Austin Samuels was never the “final piece of the puzzle” as McCall had claimed on his arrival.

The club legend’s exit at Oldham, that graveyard of City bosses, prompted an initial short-term promotion of Trueman and Sellars from the academy.

While the likes of Paul Hurst and later Derek Adams were in the mix, the stopgaps seized their opportunity.

They had the benefit of a fit-again Novak scoring key goals – including the EFL award-winning overhead kick at Grimsby – and based the team on a solid defensive structure that had been lacking.

Games were frozen off for the large part in January but the recruitment hotted up as Lee Turnbull led a frantic month that saw nine in and six out.

The new faces included Danny Rowe, who had made a big impression with a thunder strike for Oldham in the FA Cup.

His 92-day stay would be a curious episode, starting with a bang and ending with two unused appearances stuck on the bench. By all accounts, his quick exit for Chesterfield bemused those in the dressing room as much as the supporters.

Danny Rowe is mobbed after his stoppage-time equaliser against Bolton

Rowe’s “blink and you miss it” City career will be remembered for that dramatic last-ditch equaliser against Bolton – an occasion more than any other when the absence of fans really hurt.

At that stage, the Bantams were four points off their rivals with two games in hand – a fairy-tale finish in the top seven firmly in their sights. But that all went south in south Wales.

The subsequent efforts, punctuated by an impressive four-goal salvo against Forest Green on Good Friday, underlined that they weren’t good enough to last the pace. Familiar questions remain.

Some individuals fared better and emerged from a season behind closed doors with reputations intact.

Paudie O’Connor dominated the player awards at the club’s virtual presentation to acknowledge a year when he has been a consistent presence at the back – a very vocal one too as iFollow watchers will appreciate.

Paudie O'Connor shows his frustration but was one of City's most consistent players

Callum Cooke struggled as much as anybody during McCall’s demise but revelled in the revival in a number 10 role that suited.

And Sam Hornby established himself during the second half of the term as a preferred choice, rather than just a genuine rival, to captain Richard O’Donnell in City’s goal.

But renovation is needed yet again if the club are going to change the record.