For the visitors, Brad Halliday canceled out Jordan Brown's opening score.
After Bradford earned a spot in the League Two playoffs by battling back to tie with champions Leyton Orient, Mark Hughes voiced his happiness.
In front of 22,576 spectators—the largest league attendance to watch a game at Valley Parade this century—the Bantams drew 1-1 with Orient to get the point they needed to guarantee a top-seven finish.
Brad Halliday, a right back, scored his first goal since December 2020 to offset Jordan Brown's opening goal for the guests.
Carlisle and Bradford will now square off in the play-off semifinals.
We're definitely happy since it was a challenging fixture for us, Hughes remarked. We were competing against champions, and everyone could see why they are champions.
They are an excellent squad at this level, so going up against them in a game we still needed to win seemed like a daunting assignment before the game started.
"It wasn't a challenge we couldn't handle, but we certainly had to act morally.
"The initial goal's setback worked against us, but we immediately recovered, which was crucial.
"At the time, it seemed like a battle between two equally matched sides that didn't give each other a chance.
We are involved in a playoff scenario. That was the objective prior to the start of the season, and we still have a chance to leave this league.
Bradford had a chance after four minutes when Lawrence Vigouroux tipped Andy Cook's looping header against the bar.
After Sam Stubbs' flick-on, Romoney Crichlow shot wide, Jamie Walker fired into the side-netting, and Cook was once again well stopped by Vigouroux.
However, Orient scored the game's opening goal after 41 minutes when Brown scored from 10 yards out after Bradford failed to deal with a corner.
Two minutes later, the home team equalized when Halliday's shot took a strong deflection past Vigouroux.
"The last week has been really difficult keeping myself, the staff, and the players motivated," Orient manager Richie Wellens said.
But I believed that we came here, gave a strong performance, and held Bradford accountable. I believe we could have controlled the game and possession if they hadn't scored so shortly after us.
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