📺 FROM THE DESK
Live commentary on Bolton v Bradford in the League One play-off semi-final first leg from the Toughsheet Community Stadium. Kick-off 20:00 BST. Following from home — full TV coverage.
The pre-match read on the table-versus-xG tension (Bradford finished higher, but Bolton’s xG +8.99 marks them the better side, and both models favour the home team) is here ↓
Table versus xG: the full preview
ARCHIVE Match commentary archive · 81 updates
SCORE1·0FT'
FTcommentBolton take a 1-0 lead heading into Valley Parade on Thursday. Bolton felt they needed to get a good result and they did in the home leg. Overall, Bolton deserved it recording 12 shots, although 1 on target which was Amario Cozier-Duberry's strike compared to Bradford's 4 shots and just 1 on target. Antoni Sarcevic had the best of the chances for Bradford however Bolton always looked on top and managed the game well. However, Bradford will feel they can comeback with there fired up support at Valley Parade.
90+12'comment360 minutes , two goals one from a mistake . Not a great advert for the play offs really . Goodnight all.
FTscore1-0
90+10'fulltimeFull-time, 1-0 Bolton
90+7'commentEnd to end with Bolton having 2 penalty shouts involving John McAtee and Max Conway
90+5'sub🔄 Off goes the booked Ibrahim Cissoko to be replaced by Max Conway
90+5'commentHuge 5 minutes in this tie
90+2'comment9 minutes added on by the way
90+1'commentJack Bonham comes out and doesn't claim it, luckily Xavier Simons is right behind him to hoof it clear
90+1'commentFree kick — Bradford, given away by Amario Cozier-Duberry on Ibou Touray, looked soft, it is positioned on this left hand side for Bradford
90'card🟨 For Ibrahim Cissoko for a theatrical dive after being brushed by Aden Baldwin
88'commentYou feel Bolton have to hold or even extend this lead with the trip to Valley Parade upcoming
88'commentSecond phase of the corner, Xavier Simons with an inviting chip in however @h16 just can't reach it
87'commentCorner — Bolton
87'commentChaos in the box at the moment, multiple good situations for the visitors with multiple crosses coming in, Bolton deal with them and it ends up in the hands of Jack Bonham
85'commentCorner — Bradford, won by Tyreik Wright
85'commentThere will be a fair amount of added time due to the ref coming off.
84'commentCorner — Bolton, poor from Sam Walker
82'subAfter missing that chance, Kayden Jackson is off for Nick Powell
81'sub🔄 Rúben Rodrigues off for John McAtee and Sam Dalby on for Mason Burstow
80'commentShot — Bradford, Good chance, Kayden Jackson is slipped in by Tyreik Wright but goes to ground following pressure from Chris Forino, penalty not given
77'commentShot — Bolton, neat play from Mason Burstow and then nicely dinked in for Josh Sheehan who appeals for a penalty but it falls to Rúben Rodrigues who shoots wide of the near post
74'commentCorner — Bolton
73'commentBrilliant again from Amario Cozier-Duberry whos dangerous cross goes all the way to Ibrahim Cissoko who cuts it back for Mason Burstow who can't get any power on his shot
71'subEthan Erhahon off for former Hull player Xavier Simons
68'sub🔄 George Lapslie makes way for Tyreik Wright
66'commentCorner — Bradford, won by Ibou Touray
64'commentShot — Bolton, almost another for Amario Cozier-Duberry, he robs Curtis Tilt and drives forward, looks for the far bottom corner but it hits the inside of the post and spins back out for a goal kick, you can't get much closer, huge chance missed which could be costly
60'goal⚽ Brilliant from Ibrahim Cissoko on the left who whips it across the field which misses Rúben Rodrigues but it falls to Amario Cozier-Duberry on the right, who bends one into the far top corner
63'commentCurtis Tilt on Tilt
61'score1-0
60'commentGoal
60'goal⚽ 1-0 Bolton, Amario Cozier-Duberry with the breakthrough
60'commentHas anyone understood a word Stephen Kelly has said tonight ?
57'subFree kick — Bradford, good area
54'subShot — Bradford, Joe Wright tees up Antoni Sarcevic who shoots over, he has to keep that one down
53'commentRidiculous amount of time for this sub ref to come on , just get on with the game . Have the coms ready to go if they have to have them.
52'sub🔄 Substitution but not for either team, for the referee! David Rock is on for Martin Coy as he appears to be injured and unable to continue
49'commentCorner — Bradford
48'commentGood counter-attack from Bradford, George Lapslie finds Kayden Jackson on the right but his low cross is intercepted by George Johnston
HTkickoffKick-off for the second half
HTcommentWe are coming up to the final half of the play offs in the championship and league one . We've seen one goal which was a the result of a defensive error , its been very poor in terns of entertainment . Time to scrap the play offs?
HTscore0-0
HTcommentNot a shot on target in the first half however Bolton have had 8 shots compared to Bradford's one. Ibrahim Cissoko and Amario Cozier-Duberry have been lively on the flanks with Rúben Rodrigues and Ethan Erhahon continuously finding pockets of space and always looking to harm Bradford. Still 0-0 in this one
45+2'commentThe latter 10 minutes the game kind of went into the doldrums , some lively moments early on the Antoni Sarcevic chance being the main one .
45+1'halftimeHalf-time, 0-0
45'comment1 added on
43'commentShot — Bolton, Eoin Toal from distance, well over
38'commentcan't understand a word the Irish fella is saying on coms , no idea who he is .
33'card🟨 Yellow card for Josh Neufville, brilliant play by Ibrahim Cissoko to flick it to George Johnston who is fouled by Josh Neufville. Free kick — Bolton
28'commentIbrahim Cissoko with a cross to close to Sam Walker, still Bolton in control, especially in these wide areas
23'commentGreat long ball again by Chris Forino to find Ibrahim Cissoko who works it to Ethan Erhahon who fires it across goal, Mason Burstow can't get control of it
21'commentSustained pressure now from Bolton
21'commentGreat play from Bolton, just can't create a clear shooting opportunity, Amario Cozier-Duberry heavily involved as always
18'commentIbrahim Cissoko makes an absolute mess of things, fails to control the ball Throw-in — Bradford
16'commentThrow-in — Bolton
14'commentShot — Bolton, smart corner from Bolton played along the floor to Mason Burstow however both his shots are blocked by Kayden Jackson, later on George Johnston then shot outside the box over the bar
13'commentCorner — Bolton, good spell for the hosts, a few shots blocked
12'commentBradford look the more likely to score so far .
12'commentAcross all 3 EFL divisions in 2025-26, Amario Cozier-Duberry raked first among all U21 players for assists (10), shots (97) and chances created (53) and was second for dribbles (130) and touches in opp box (164)
10'commentShot — Bradford, Huge block by Chris Forino, Eoin Toal got caught in possession by Antoni Sarcevic who was through. The former Bolton man shot however it was a brilliant piece of defending by Chris Forino
9'commentAntoni Sarcevic should have put that one away for sure
8'commentBrilliant by Max Power to find Ibou Touray who plays it across goal but Bolton are the first to it, that is an example of what Bradford's skipper brings to the team
20:07commentJack Bonham punches the ball away for no reason putting his side under pressure, why do they do that ?
7'commentBradford's Max Power ranks in the top 5 for chances created from set plays (39, 4th) and passes into the opposition box (352, 5th) during this League One season. He has played in 5 EFL playoff matches, featuring for Sunderland in their 2018-19 and 2020-21 campaigns where they failed to win promotion both times
4'commentIn the 25/26 season in League One, Bolton had more shots than any other side (772), only Stevenage faced fewer shots than them (461). The two sides to allow opponents the lowest xG on goal were Bradford (46.4) and Bolton (48.2)
1'commentMax Power is making his 50th Bradford appearance tonight and Josh Neufville is making his 250th career appearance
20:00kickoffKick-off
19:59commentIn League One, the team finishing 5th hasn't lost the first leg of the semi final in any of the last nine seasons (W5, D4) since Bradford lost 3-1 to Millwall in 2015-16
19:58commentBradford have competed in six previous EFL play-off campaigns, winning promotion twice in the third tier in 1995-96 under Chris Kamara and 2012-2013 in League Two under Phil Parkinson. Their last play-off appearance was 2022-23 in league Two, losing to Carlisle in the semi finals
19:56commentThis is the 10th time Bolton have taken part in EFL Play-offs, the joint-most of any side alongside Huddersfield, Brentford, Preston and Sheffield United. Only twice have they won playoff promotion, in 1994-95 and 2000-01 in the second tier
19:55commentBradford have scored just four goals in their last nine visits to Bolton in all comps (W1, D4, L4) with 50% of those in one game, a 2-1 cup victory in 2020
19:54commentBolton Wanderers have lost just two of their last 20 games against Bradford in all comps (W7, D11) with both league meetings this season ending in draws
19:49commentBuilding up nicely .
19:47score0-0
19:46commentBRADFORD LINEUP - From their final day win against Exeter, no changes have been made by Graham Alexander
19:46commentBradford starting lineup - Bench: Joe Hilton, Stephen Humphrys, Ciaran Kelly, Matthew Pennington, Nick Powell, Will Swan, Tyreik Wright
19:40commentAnd we are back for the third commentary of the day.
https://beyondtheprem.co.uk/live-bolton-v-bradford-league-one-play-off-sf1-first-leg/
19:34commentBOLTON LINEUP - From there final day loss against Luton, George Johnston comes in for @h26 who drops to the bench, Ethan Erhahon comes in for Johnny Kenny who drops out the squad completely
19:31commentBolton starting lineup - Bench: Cyrus Christie, Max Conway, Sam Dalby, Thierry Gale, David Harrington, John McAtee, Xavier Simons
45+218'score0-0
Match commentary timeline
Auto-generated from live commentary. 78 entries between kickoff and full-time.
comment Max Power is making his 50th Bradford appearance tonight and Josh Neufville is making his 250th career appearance
4′ comment In the 25/26 season in League One, Bolton had more shots than any other side (772), only Stevenage faced fewer shots than them (461). The two sides to allow opponents the lowest xG on goal were Bradford (46.4) and Bolton (48.2)
7′ comment Bradford’s Max Power ranks in the top 5 for chances created from set plays (39, 4th) and passes into the opposition box (352, 5th) during this League One season. He has played in 5 EFL playoff matches, featuring for Sunderland in their 2018-19 and 2020-21 campaigns where they failed to win promotion both times
8′ comment Brilliant by Max Power to find Ibou Touray who plays it across goal but Bolton are the first to it, that is an example of what Bradford’s skipper brings to the team
9′ comment Antoni Sarcevic should have put that one away for sure
10′ comment Shot — Bradford, Huge block by Chris Forino, Eoin Toal got caught in possession by Antoni Sarcevic who was through. The former Bolton man shot however it was a brilliant piece of defending by Chris Forino
12′ comment Across all 3 EFL divisions in 2025-26, Amario Cozier-Duberry raked first among all U21 players for assists (10), shots (97) and chances created (53) and was second for dribbles (130) and touches in opp box (164)
12′ comment Bradford look the more likely to score so far .
13′ comment Corner — Bolton, good spell for the hosts, a few shots blocked
14′ comment Shot — Bolton, smart corner from Bolton played along the floor to Mason Burstow however both his shots are blocked by Kayden Jackson, later on George Johnston then shot outside the box over the bar
16′ comment Throw-in — Bolton
18′ comment Ibrahim Cissoko makes an absolute mess of things, fails to control the ball Throw-in — Bradford
21′ comment Great play from Bolton, just can’t create a clear shooting opportunity, Amario Cozier-Duberry heavily involved as always
21′ comment Sustained pressure now from Bolton
23′ comment Great long ball again by Chris Forino to find Ibrahim Cissoko who works it to Ethan Erhahon who fires it across goal, Mason Burstow can’t get control of it
28′ comment Ibrahim Cissoko with a cross to close to Sam Walker, still Bolton in control, especially in these wide areas
33′ card 🟨 Yellow card for Josh Neufville, brilliant play by Ibrahim Cissoko to flick it to George Johnston who is fouled by Josh Neufville. Free kick — Bolton
38′ comment can’t understand a word the Irish fella is saying on coms , no idea who he is .
43′ comment Shot — Bolton, Eoin Toal from distance, well over
45′ comment 1 added on
HT comment Not a shot on target in the first half however Bolton have had 8 shots compared to Bradford’s one. Ibrahim Cissoko and Amario Cozier-Duberry have been lively on the flanks with Rúben Rodrigues and Ethan Erhahon continuously finding pockets of space and always looking to harm Bradford. Still 0-0 in this one
HT score 0-0
HT comment We are coming up to the final half of the play offs in the championship and league one . We’ve seen one goal which was a the result of a defensive error , its been very poor in terns of entertainment . Time to scrap the play offs?
HT kickoff Kick-off for the second half
45+1′ halftime Half-time, 0-0
45+2′ comment The latter 10 minutes the game kind of went into the doldrums , some lively moments early on the Antoni Sarcevic chance being the main one .
45+218′ score 0-0
48′ comment Good counter-attack from Bradford, George Lapslie finds Kayden Jackson on the right but his low cross is intercepted by George Johnston
49′ comment Corner — Bradford
52′ sub 🔄 Substitution but not for either team, for the referee! David Rock is on for Martin Coy as he appears to be injured and unable to continue
53′ comment Ridiculous amount of time for this sub ref to come on , just get on with the game . Have the coms ready to go if they have to have them.
54′ sub Shot — Bradford, Joe Wright tees up Antoni Sarcevic who shoots over, he has to keep that one down
57′ sub Free kick — Bradford, good area
60′ comment Has anyone understood a word Stephen Kelly has said tonight ?
60′ goal ⚽ 1-0 Bolton, Amario Cozier-Duberry with the breakthrough
60′ comment Goal
60′ goal ⚽ Brilliant from Ibrahim Cissoko on the left who whips it across the field which misses Rúben Rodrigues but it falls to Amario Cozier-Duberry on the right, who bends one into the far top corner
61′ score 1-0
63′ comment Curtis Tilt on Tilt
64′ comment Shot — Bolton, almost another for Amario Cozier-Duberry, he robs Curtis Tilt and drives forward, looks for the far bottom corner but it hits the inside of the post and spins back out for a goal kick, you can’t get much closer, huge chance missed which could be costly
66′ comment Corner — Bradford, won by Ibou Touray
68′ sub 🔄 George Lapslie makes way for Tyreik Wright
71′ sub Ethan Erhahon off for former Hull player Xavier Simons
73′ comment Brilliant again from Amario Cozier-Duberry whos dangerous cross goes all the way to Ibrahim Cissoko who cuts it back for Mason Burstow who can’t get any power on his shot
74′ comment Corner — Bolton
77′ comment Shot — Bolton, neat play from Mason Burstow and then nicely dinked in for Josh Sheehan who appeals for a penalty but it falls to Rúben Rodrigues who shoots wide of the near post
80′ comment Shot — Bradford, Good chance, Kayden Jackson is slipped in by Tyreik Wright but goes to ground following pressure from Chris Forino, penalty not given
81′ sub 🔄 Rúben Rodrigues off for John McAtee and Sam Dalby on for Mason Burstow
82′ sub After missing that chance, Kayden Jackson is off for Nick Powell
84′ comment Corner — Bolton, poor from Sam Walker
85′ comment There will be a fair amount of added time due to the ref coming off.
85′ comment Corner — Bradford, won by Tyreik Wright
87′ comment Chaos in the box at the moment, multiple good situations for the visitors with multiple crosses coming in, Bolton deal with them and it ends up in the hands of Jack Bonham
87′ comment Corner — Bolton
88′ comment Second phase of the corner, Xavier Simons with an inviting chip in however @h16 just can’t reach it
88′ comment You feel Bolton have to hold or even extend this lead with the trip to Valley Parade upcoming
90′ card 🟨 For Ibrahim Cissoko for a theatrical dive after being brushed by Aden Baldwin
90+1′ comment Free kick — Bradford, given away by Amario Cozier-Duberry on Ibou Touray, looked soft, it is positioned on this left hand side for Bradford
90+1′ comment Jack Bonham comes out and doesn’t claim it, luckily Xavier Simons is right behind him to hoof it clear
90+2′ comment 9 minutes added on by the way
90+5′ comment Huge 5 minutes in this tie
90+5′ sub 🔄 Off goes the booked Ibrahim Cissoko to be replaced by Max Conway
90+7′ comment End to end with Bolton having 2 penalty shouts involving John McAtee and Max Conway
90+10′ fulltime Full-time, 1-0 Bolton
comment Bolton starting lineup – Bench: Cyrus Christie, Max Conway, Sam Dalby, Thierry Gale, David Harrington, John McAtee, Xavier Simons
comment BOLTON LINEUP – From there final day loss against Luton, George Johnston comes in for @h26 who drops to the bench, Ethan Erhahon comes in for Johnny Kenny who drops out the squad completely
comment And we are back for the third commentary of the day.
https://beyondtheprem.co.uk/live-bolton-v-bradford-league-one-play-off-sf1-first-leg/
https://beyondtheprem.co.uk/live-bolton-v-bradford-league-one-play-off-sf1-first-leg/
comment Bradford starting lineup – Bench: Joe Hilton, Stephen Humphrys, Ciaran Kelly, Matthew Pennington, Nick Powell, Will Swan, Tyreik Wright
comment BRADFORD LINEUP – From their final day win against Exeter, no changes have been made by Graham Alexander
score 0-0
comment Building up nicely .
comment Bolton Wanderers have lost just two of their last 20 games against Bradford in all comps (W7, D11) with both league meetings this season ending in draws
comment Bradford have scored just four goals in their last nine visits to Bolton in all comps (W1, D4, L4) with 50% of those in one game, a 2-1 cup victory in 2020
comment This is the 10th time Bolton have taken part in EFL Play-offs, the joint-most of any side alongside Huddersfield, Brentford, Preston and Sheffield United. Only twice have they won playoff promotion, in 1994-95 and 2000-01 in the second tier
comment Bradford have competed in six previous EFL play-off campaigns, winning promotion twice in the third tier in 1995-96 under Chris Kamara and 2012-2013 in League Two under Phil Parkinson. Their last play-off appearance was 2022-23 in league Two, losing to Carlisle in the semi finals
comment In League One, the team finishing 5th hasn’t lost the first leg of the semi final in any of the last nine seasons (W5, D4) since Bradford lost 3-1 to Millwall in 2015-16
kickoff Kick-off
comment Jack Bonham punches the ball away for no reason putting his side under pressure, why do they do that ?
