JOSH Law scored York City reserves’ consolation in a 2-1 Central League North defeat at Bradford City.

Playing at left back, before switching sides late on, Law was one of five visiting players with first-team experience for the Minstermen, joining Connor Smith, Theo Wharton, Clovis Kamdjo and Raul Correia in a staring line-up that also included an unnamed attacking trialist.

The League One hosts, meanwhile, fielded eight players with senior outings to their name this season for the Bantams.

Former Leeds and Sheffield United winger Dominic Poleon was the most notable name, with Lukas Raeder, Jacob Hanson, Jordan Gibson, Daniel Devine, Joel Grodowski, Kai Bruenker and Daniel Pybus the others featuring at the West Yorkshire outfit’s training ground.

Grodowski and Gibson both netted to give Bradford a half-time lead, but City were a match for the home team and deserved a share of the spoils for their efforts.

Poor defending, though, led to Grodowski’s opening goal on 19 minutes when Bruekner displayed greater determination to ride a couple of away challenges in the penalty box before crossing low for Gibson to steer a ten-yard effort into Ryan Whitley’s bottom-right corner.

In response, second-year scholar Flynn McNaughton worked himself into a shooting position, but Raeder was quick out of his goal to snuff out the threat.

Law’s free kick was also punched away by a flying Raeder after Aaron Haswell had been stopped in his tracks following a forward burst.

A 20-yard Smith attempt was then kept out by Raeder, while Grodowski might have grabbed a second goal at the other end but, after charging through the left channel, he lifted his shot over an advancing Whitley, but the ball bounced wide of a vacated net.

Bradford, watched by first-team boss Simon Grayson, did double their lead on 42 minutes after Devive tricked his way into the box and was tripped by Josh Rogerson.

Gibson went on to send Whitley the wrong way from the spot, finding the City keeper’s bottom-left corner.

The first-half lead flattered Bradford and a brilliant reflex save from Raeder prevented Wharton’s thumping edge-of-the-box drive from reducing the deficit within seconds of the restart.

Correia, who struggled to make an impression, also blazed into the trees behind the home goal and a Law free kick was deflected off target before the former Oldham defender got on the scoresheet in the 63rd minute, firing a diagonal 15-yard attempt into Raeder’s bottom-left corner.

At the other end, Gibson skied too high after cutting in from the right and dragged an excellent eight-yard opportunity across the face of goal.

In between, the Minstermen’s trialist had forced a parry from Raeder, while McNaughton teed up an overlapping Haswell for a free shot on goal from 15 yards, but he failed to hit the target.

There were then two more chances for Gibson to add to his penalty, with the second well saved by Whitley’s legs.

City’s last chances of an equaliser, meanwhile, saw McNaugthon shoot wastefully over and Raeder push away a floating attempt from the trialist.

Team: Whitley; Smith, Rogerson, Kamdjo, Law; Thompson, Wharton, Haswell (Berry, 81); McNaugthon, Correia (Lawrence, 78), Trialist.