PAUL Shanley conceded Bradford Town let a winning chance slip through their fingers as they had to settle for 1-1 a draw at Longwell Green Sports in the Premier Division on Wednesday night.

After fighting back from an early goal down on the outskirts of Bristol, Bradford got themselves level through Matt Morris’ penalty in the opening exchanges of the second half.

The Trowbridge side dominated the remainder of the contest but boss Shanley was left to rue their lack of a cutting edge in the final third as they failed to make the most of a string of opportunities in front of goal.

“It was definitely a case of two points dropped,” said Shanley.

“We took a little while to get going on that pitch. It was very sticky and probably the worst we’ve played on in the league, so it took us time to get to grips with it.

“We like to play our football, although you could hardly play any on that pitch, to be fair.

“We gave away a poor goal defensively to go behind at half-time but within about two minutes of the second half, we’d scored a penalty.

“After that there only looked like one winner and that was us as we had about three or four good chances that we didn’t take.

“With a bit more composure, I’m sure we would have won the game by a couple of goals.

“It was a game we should have won but after Saturday I’m just pleased to pick up a point.”

Shanley was referring to Bradford’s weekend horror show as they were crushed 4-1 at home by Willand Rovers.

It was a tale of two penalties at Trowbridge Road, with both sides being awarded one in the opening 20 minutes after fouls by the goalkeepers but only Bradford had their stopper - Jamie Bartlett - sent off.

Neikell Plummer gave Bradford the lead from the spot after only two minutes when Jack Hopper was brought down by Aaron White, who was allowed to stay on the field.

Brett Worbey then levelled the scores with a penalty of his own after Bartlett was dismissed for a foul in the box, and from their Bradford faced an uphill battle.

Further goals from James Blake, Worbey’s second and Luke Alden wrapped up the win for the visitors.

Shanley said: “It was a bad day for us but the referee was poor in his decision making.

“After about two minutes Jack Hopper went through on goal and got brought down. It was a definite penalty and a definite red card but the referee didn’t even book the goalkeeper.

“Then after about 20 minutes the same thing happened at our end but he showed Jamie a straight red card. When you are down to 10 without your goalkeeper, it’s always a tough ask.”

Bradford are on the road on Saturday and travel to struggling Sherborne Town.

“It’s a tough place to go but we can take positives from our performance in midweek,” said Shanley.

“We’ve had some bad results of late but we have to go there looking to get back to winning ways.”