LONDON, CMC — Bermudian striker Nahki Wells admitted he was “gutted” after being substituted with more than half an hour to play as 10-man Bradford City’s fairytale ended with a 5-0 thrashing by Premier League side Swansea in the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.
The giant-killing League Two side, the first fourth-tier team to get to the final in 51 years, beat three Premier League sides — Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa — en route to the final but had no answer to Swansea’s slick play. Two goals apiece from Nathan Dyer and Jonathan de Guzman and one from Michu saw Swansea outclass the Bantams, whose task was made even harder by the 56th-minute dismissal of goalkeeper Matt Duke for bringing down de Guzman, who scored from the spot.
It was Swansea’s first major trophy in the club’s 101-year history. Although disappointed at the lopsided result, Wells was able to take some solace from becoming the first Bermudian to play in a major final at Wembley, and just the third to run out at the famous stadium, cheered on by around 40 Bermudians who flew over to be among the crowd of 82,597.
“I’m proud to say I’m a Bermudian and all the support has been fantastic — I want to thank all the people who have sent me their wishes all through the build-up to us making it this far,” said Wells, 22, the club’s top scorer with 18 goals in all competitions this season.:
“There was even a good number of Bermudians here today — family and friends — even people that I don’t know. I saw Bermuda flags all around the ground so I’m just thankful for the support,” he told the Bermuda Sun.
Wells was taken off after Duke’s sending-off as manager Phil Parkinson was forced to sacrifice a forward to bring on replacement goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin.
The former Dandy Town player looked despondent as he trudged off but said that was a natural reaction to not getting the chance to finish the 90 minutes.