Xavier Simons’ 81st-minute strike fired Bolton into the League One Play-Off Final with a 1-0 second-leg victory over Bradford at Valley Parade.
Simons smashed in a 81st-minute winner from Thierry Gale’s cutback cross to settle a tightly-fought contest at Valley Parade, which secured another 1-0 win for Bolton in this tie and meant that the Trotters prevailed 2-0 on aggregate.
Bolton now will meet Stockport County in the 2025-26 League One Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium, London, on Sunday 24 May, with kick-off set for 1pm BST.
Despite holding a slender 1-0 aggregate lead after the first leg, Bolton immediately came out on the front foot but Amario Cozier-Duberry curled over the top left corner with just 57 seconds on the clock.
Bradford soon settled but struggled to create many notable chances in the opening half, whilst Ruben Rodrigues nearly broke the deadlock with an ambitious long shot from near the halfway line in the 11th minute which flew wide of the top right corner.
Eoin Toal then flicked a 25th-minute corner wide as the Trotters continued to look the more likely to break the deadlock before half time, although Bradford’s Jenson Metcalfe rifled a 43rd-minute volley over the bar via a tame deflection from Rodrigues as the first half finished level.
Metcalfe then fired wide just two minutes into the second half as Bradford soon asserted themselves onto the front foot, during which Max Power smashed a 68th-minute shot onto the crossbar via a slight deflection.
Bradford’s intensity briefly looked to had paid off when Kayden Jackson nodded in on the rebound from Jack Bonham’s block of Nick Powell’s header, but the offside flag swiftly was waved after Jackson had been stood directly in Bonham’s path as Powell put his effort on goal.
Bolton added further misery just 80 seconds later as a ball was played long up the left flank which Gale latched onto and cut back into the path of Simons, which left the midfielder to smash in past a helpless Sam Walker to put the Trotters ahead of the night and doubled their aggregate lead.
Bradford eventually couldn’t find two late goals as Bolton saw the match out to book their spot in a Greater Manchester derby at Wembley against Stockport, albeit after a brief brawl caused by a clash between Aden Baldwin and one of the visitors’ players.
Bonham post match told Sky Sports that Bradford certainly tested their defensive resilience before Simons got their winner to secure a clinical aggregate win.
“They went for it in the end and we just had to weather it but we knew we’d probably get a chance on the break and Xav got it for us.”
Teams
Bradford: Sam Walker, Aden Baldwin, Joe Wright (Power 62′) , Curtis Tilt (T.Wright 46′), Josh Neufville, Jenson Metcalfe (Lapslie 61′), Max Power (Swan 92′), Ibou Touray, Bobby Pointon (Humphrys 61′), Antoni Sarcevic, Kayden Jackson
Substitutes: Joe Hilton, Stephen Humphrys, George Lapslie, Matthew Pennington, Nick Powell, Will Swan, Tyreik Wright
Bolton: Jack Bonham, Jordi Osei-Tutu, Eoin Toal (Conway 43′), Chris Forino-Joseph, George Johnston, Josh Sheehan, Ethan Erhahon (Simons 76′), Amario Cozier-Duberry, Ruben Rodrigues (Dalby 65′), Ibrahim Cissoko (Gale 65′), Mason Burstow (McAtee 76′)
Substitutes: Cyrus Christie, Max Conway, Sam Dalby, Thierry Gale, David Harrington, John McAtee, Xavier Simons
Referee – Thomas Kirk
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