Manager John Yems celebrated a ‘deserved win’ as Crawley beat Bradford 2-0 to end a seven-game winless run.

Jordan Tunnicliffe put them ahead in the 20th minute with a looping header from Josh Wright’s cross and Joe McNerney put the result beyond doubt with their second goal – a header from Jack Powell’s free-kick four minutes from time.

Yems said: “We came here with a plan that we have been working on. Every man Jack and dog stuck to it and we got our rewards.

“We deserved to win and it could have been a lot more.

“Work rate is a gimme but with the injuries we have got, you couldn’t fault any of them for effort.

“The two centre-halves have scored both goals and have done well in both boxes – everyone has done well.

“Clayton Donaldson has hit the post for Bradford but once again our captain Tom Nichols has taken some bashing which was unbelievable. I don’t want to be moaning about referees but if you look at some, at that tackle (Donaldson was booked for a foul on Nichols leading to the second goal) and some of the others, it was a bit naughty.

“I just think we were fitter than them. To be fair Bradford are a good side and not to be underestimated, but we stuck to what we had to do and were better on the night and deserved to win.”

Defeat was a blow to Bradford’s play-off hopes and joint manager Mark Trueman said: “Obviously we were disappointed with the result. We didn’t start quickly enough and allowed Crawley to get a foothold in the game.

“We ended up chasing the game and we were not clinical enough in the chances we created. We allowed Crawley to score and they then did what any team does when they come here – they worked hard, closed us down and made it hard for us.

“We didn’t start bright enough and the intensity wasn’t there in our play. We showed that in the second half but by then we were chasing the game.

“We have got to learn quickly from that and not start as slowly as we did today. It was frustrating in the way we started and that has cost us the game.”