Bradford City 0-0 Reading: Bantams hold Royals in quarter-final stalemate

Bradford City secured a replay against Championship side Reading after a stalemate in their FA Cup quarter-final at a rocking Valley Parade.

Pavel Pogrebnyak and and Gary Liddle both hit the post for either side in the first half while Stephen Kelly's last ditch tackle denied Jon Stead as chances were few and far between during a hotly contested 90 minutes.

Olivier Norwood's late free kick hit the up-right as Bradford clung on amid mounting pressure on their goal but Phil Parkinson's side did enough to continue their run in the world's oldest cup competition.

The result means both teams remain in the draw for the semi-final ahead of the return fixture at the Madejski Stadium as the pair look to reach the last four for the first time in 104 and 88 years respectively.

After knocking out Premier League leaders Chelsea and Sunderland already in the competition, Bantams boss Phil Parkinson was targeting another upset against his former club Reading, who had quietly edged into their third last eight appearance in six seasons.

But it was the League One who threatened in the early stages, which was dominated with agricultural football, indicative of a poor playing surface. That early possession was replaced by Reading coming the closest to scoring as Jamie Mackie's cross was turned onto the post by Pogrebnyak from 20 yards.

City hit the woodwork themselves before the break, with Liddle's cross evading everyone in the Reading box, beating Adam Federici, but clattering against the post and rebounding to safety.

The second half saw similar hard grafting from both teams with few openings and only when Stead capitalised from Jason Pearce's slip did the deadlock look like being broken, but Kelly produced a fine last ditch challenge which kept the scores level.

Steve Clarke's side did themselves muster one late opening as the game headed towards an inevitable draw, as Norwood's in-swinging set-piece hit the post amid a host of bodies attempting to clear the ball from danger, a scrappy ending to the game which defined the contest.