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Wells and Bantams reach play-offs

Bradford City striker Nahki Wells

Nahki Wells heaped praise on his Bradford City teammates after the Bantams secured their place in the end-of-season promotion play-offs courtesy of a 1-0 win against ten-men Burton Albion at Valley Parade on Saturday.James Hanson scored the game winner right on the stroke of half-time after Brewers goalkeeper Dean Lyness parried Wells’ goal bound effort invitingly into the striker’s path.Things then quickly went from bad to worse for the visitors who were reduced to ten-men after skipper Lee Bell was sent off a minute later during first-half stoppage time for catching Bantams’ striker Zavon Hines with a stray elbow as the two men challenge for an aerial ball.City’s win, coupled with Exeter City's home defeat at the hands of Cheltenham Town, guaranteed Wells and his teammates a place in the play-offs with a game to spare.Naturally, the Bermudian striker was elated after the final whistle blew at Coral Windows Stadium.“It’s feels great to have solidified a spot in the play-offs with one game to go,” he told The Royal Gazette. “Credit to the lads who clawed back a three-point difference after a lot of people had written us off. We hit form at the right time and got ourselves into the play-offs.”Wells described the scenes around Valley Parade after the match as joyous.“It was a good buzz around the entire stadium and we had a standing ovation for a good ten minutes,” he said. “Thirteen thousand fans stayed and clapped us off and it was a good buzz in the dressing room as well. It felt like we had taken a big burden off our shoulders for getting into the play-offs with a game to go. That was one step and now we have to go another two steps to get promoted.”Having come this far in terms of gaining promotion, Wells and his teammates will now look to go all the way with so much at stake.“We all want to be playing in the highest leagues possible so the fact we have a great chance to make that happen is something that we will not try and waste,” he said. “It’s a big task ahead of us, but I fancy us to go and do it. League One is a higher standard and the club’s stature would grow massively if we got our foot in League One.”Saturday’s win, City’s fourth in their last six outings, moved the Yorkshire club up to seventh- place in the League Two standings with 68 points from 45 matches.The Bantams are away to Cheltenham in their final match of the regular season this weekend.Wells and his teammates have already played at Wembley this season, losing 5-0 to Swansea City in the League Cup final in February.Jonte Smith officially opened his scoring account with Conference South side Eastbourne Borough who were held to a 1-1 draw with Hayes & Yeading at the weekend.The Bermudian striker opened his account in the 13th minute only for the home team to equalise six minutes later to grab a share of the spoils.Though denied victory, Smith and his teammates had plenty to cheer about after the game ended as the outcome secured the Sports’ Conference South league status for next season.“Feels good being on the scoresheet and now safe from relegation,” commented Smith on the social network Twitter.The teenaged striker, who had an initial one-year contract with parent club Crawley Town extended another year last month, is currently on a loan spell with the Sports.Eastbourne are currently 15th in the 22-team Conference South standings with two matches remaining in the 2012-13 league campaign.