Aldershot Town exited the Emirates FA Cup with a 3-1 defeat at League Two outfit Bradford City in the first round proper on Saturday.

Jack Barham's opening goal was cancelled out by three Bradford goals early in the second half as the Shots exited the competition.

The Shots started brightly and broke into the Bradford box on a number of occasions in the opening minutes with two fairly hopeful shouts for a penalty turned away.

The home side had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the fifth minute as Calum Kavanagh fired over a dangerous Jay Benn cross when he should have at least hit the target.

Theo Widdrington had been spraying some nice passes around but gave the ball away in the 11th minute as he tried to drive out of Shots territory and a chipped ball forward found Vadaine Oliver.

Shots keeper Marcus Dewhurst pulled off an excellent stop to deny Oliver and got straight back up to also stop the rebound before Aldershot were able to clear.

Bradford did beat Dewhurst 15 minutes later as Neill Byrne turned in a cross from a short corner at the far post, but the assistant referee's flag was raised to rule the goal out as the cross had gone out of play before meeting Byrne.

Aldershot took the lead in the 32nd minute. Jack Barham, who scored a hat-trick in last season’s 7-4 first round proper win at Swindon Town, was picked out by Josh Barrett and cut in on his left foot to curl the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box.

Bradford had a couple of chances to equalise soon afterwards. Oliver forced Dewhurst to tip the ball over the bar as he met a Bradford corner and Benn attempted to chip the ball over the on-rushing Dewhurst but could only put it wide.

The Shots twice came close to increasing their advantage just before the break. Dan Ellison's header had to tipped wide by Bantams keeper Sam Walker, and from the resulting corner Christian Maghoma headed just wide.

The Bantams had the final chance of the half, however, as a minute before half-time Aaron Jones' clearance bounced off the back of a Bradford attacker and looped just over the bar.

Bradford equalised five minutes into the second half. A long ball forward saw Kavanagh beat Dewhurst to the ball and he laid the ball across to Oliver, who was able to score into an empty net.

The Shots didn't let their heads drop and looked to head back in front as Tyler Frost fired wide in the 53rd minute after being teed up by Barham on a break forward.

A golden opportunity then fell to Frost on the hour mark as Jones' sublime through ball sent him clean through on goal. Frost rounded Walker, but found himself at a very tight angle and his shot could only hit the side netting inches wide of the post.

This proved to be a pivotal moment in the game as Bradford went in front just five minutes later. Benn's cross from the right found the back of the net via Maghoma as the Shots centre-half scored an unfortunate own goal.

Bradford scored a third just three minutes later and found themselves further in front as Rollin Menayese got the ball stuck between his feet and Kavanagh pounced to break into the Shots box and fire past Dewhurst.

It was an unfortunate few moments for the Aldershot defence that had stood firm for the vast majority of the game and had put in a stellar performance.

A flurry of substitutions from both sides disrupted the rhythm of the game as Aldershot's fresh legs were unable to help the Shots get back into the game and Bradford were more than happy to sit on their two-goal advantage.

Maxi Mullins delivered a dangerous cross three minutes into stoppage time that just evaded Hady Ghandour in the centre in what proved to be the final chance of the game.

Despite the defeat and subsequent FA Cup exit, the Shots had produced a decent showing against a Bradford side who are challenging for promotion from League Two.