Amario Cozier-Duberry’s brilliant strike was enough for Bolton to earn a 1-0 first-leg win over Bradford in their League One play-off semi-final.
The 20-year-old winger, on loan from Brighton, struck in the second half at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
It means the Trotters take a crucial advantage to Valley Parade.
Cozier-Duberry breaks tension at the Toughsheet
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Bolton took the lead against Bradford after Amario Cozier-Duberry found the back of the net!
Just like in all the play-off ties we’d seen so far, tension overwhelmed the most part of this first leg.
There were no shots on target in the first half and Billy Sharp sat unimpressed in the Sky Sports studio.
“No one wanted to take the game by the scruff of the neck,” the EFL legend said at the break.
But the neck scruff was well and truly taken on the hour mark. Cozier- Duberry, so often the spark for Bolton, picked up an Ibrahim Cissoko cross before cutting onto his left and bending brilliantly into the far corner.
A couple of minutes later it should have been a second for the former Arsenal youngster. He raced through on goal after they won it back high up but his effort agonisingly hit the inside of the post before bouncing clear.
It could have been a truly defining moment in this tie but, with just a single goal separating them, it is all to play for in the second leg.
Schumacher: It was a brilliant finish
Bolton boss Steven Schumacher on Sky Sports Football:
“Amario has produced moments of magic like that for us all season.
“We said to him at half-time that he was coming inside a lot, and we asked him to be patient and we’d get the ball to him in dangerous areas.
“The ball fell to him a little bit fortuitously, but it was a brilliant finish.
“We’re delighted [with the result]. It was a tight game as we expected it to be, really competitive.
“We knew how important it was to try and get ourselves ahead in the tie because we know how difficult it is going to Valley Parade.”
