Crewe Alexandra's hopes of avoiding relegation to League Two have suffered a setback after Billy Clarke gave Bradford City the lead at half time.

After a scrappy opening, Bradford almost took the lead when Clarke fired a shot from distance just over the Alex crossbar.

Crewe struggled to get going in attack and almost fell behind on 18 minutes when Jon Stead fired narrowly over from six yards out.

Stead and Christopher Routis then missed with further efforts, but the Yorkshiremen finally found a breakthrough midway through the half.

It came when Clarke took advantage of a set piece to send his shot beyond the reach of Paul Rachubka.

Bradford almost doubled their lead within moments as Tony McMahon forced Rachubka into a save.

However, the hosts came to life before the half-hour mark when Lauri Dalla Valle broke into the right side of the area before missing the target.

The ex-Liverpool and Fulham forward threatened again within moments, running at the Bradford defence before being dispossessed as he lined up to shoot.

Ryan Colclough tried his luck with a shot from distance, which was off target, but looked to have signalled a shift in momentum as Crewe started to ask more questions of their opponents.

Arguably their best chance came late in the half when James Jones saw his shot turned away by Ben Williams.