Bradford City forward Shay McCartan was delighted to come off the bench and bag the winning goal for his side yesterday, as reported by the club’s official website.
McCartan, who spent last season on loan with Lincoln City, has been restricted to starting on the bench for Gary Bowyer’s side this season. Yesterday, with the scores poised at 1-1 with promotion favourites Swindon, he came into the fray to secure a vital win for his side.
Swindon, who dropped out of the top five courtesy of the result, were on the receiving end of Lincoln’s Goal of the Season by McCartan last season and he’s struck again to dump them out of the top five.
“It was a brilliant win. Swindon are a good side and their position in the table does not lie,” said the former Accrington man.
“We played very well. It was one of our best performances of the season and we deserved the three points. It was a tough game. We could have folded when they equalised but we dug deep for the three points, which is the main thing.”
On a personal note, the forward was delighted to get his first goal in Bantams colours since February 2018 as he reintegrates himself into the side.
“I am over the moon with the goal and to have come off the bench and made a difference. We were all delighted with the victory. I got a little stroke of luck with it. There was a deflection and it went in off the post but you need that in football, sometimes.”
The win lifts Bowyer’s side up to sixth in the table, one point above Swindon and three shy of leaders Forest Green Rovers.
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McCartan played a big role in Lincoln’s promotion last season; he scored their Goal of the Season, he scored the goal that clinched promotion and he bagged their 6,500th goal away at Crawley.
They didn’t come calling for him over the summer and that left him to fight his way back into the Bradford side. He hasn’t done that as yet, but performances from the bench like yesterday will only serve to further impress their manager, Gary Bowyer.
