Cheltenham Town fell to their first league defeat of the campaign after a remarkable match at the Abbey Business Stadium.
Bradford City emerged from this rollercoaster game with their first win of the season after plundering five on a warm Gloucestershire afternoon.
Cheltenham though found four of their own but their defending proved to be their undoing here.
It was just the fillip for Stuart McCall's side, who have kick-started their stuttering League Two campaign with this win but it's back to the drawing board for Allen after his side's first mark in the defeat column.
There wasn't time to draw breath in a thrilling first half in which each side helped themselves to three goals apiece, with the home side coming from behind on three occasions through Elvis Hammond, Michael Townsend and Justin Richards, with his first goal for the club.
Nobody seemed more surprised than the visitors themselves, who had failed to score in their opening four games this season but had three on the board inside 20 minutes here.
Cheltenham's recovery was even more remarkable with boss Martin Allen forced to reshuffle his pack three times after losing first Shane Duff, Oliver Bozanic and then Hammond to injuries in a chaotic first half which will live long in the memory.
But Bradford added two more after the break and despite Richards notching his second a minute from time, Allen's defence, who have looked so solid in their previous four league matches, gave their front line too much to do in the closing stages.

TEAM NEWS: Tom Denton was relegated to the bench following his Football League debut in the dramatic 1-0 win at Rochdale on Tuesday night and was replaced by winger David Hutton. Richards, who has performed out on the left in each of the last three matches, was initially pushed up alongside Hammond in attack with Hutton briefed to patrol that flank.

2nd minute GOAL: Cheltenham Town 0-1 Bradford City
Cheltenham made the worst possible start when they allowed their visitors to open the scoring with 90 seconds on the clock. Bradford turned a promising Cheltenham move into attack, breaking down the left through Evans. The former Macclesfield Town striker reached the byline before cutting one back into the path of James O'Brien, who smashed home a half volley from the edge of the box beyond Scott Brown.

4 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 1-1 Bradford City
The home side responded in perfect style and were back on terms only two minutes later through Hammond. Bozanic produced a cross from the left-hand side and the striker arrived at the back post, stabbing an effort into the ground which bounced over Bantams goalkeeper Simon Eastwood to grab his third in five games.

5: Evans struck an 18 yarder wide with five minutes on the clock.

7 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 1-2 Bradford City
Bradford restored their advantage only three minutes after the equaliser, and it was an entirely self-inflicted blow from a Cheltenham perspective. Evans caught Drissa Diallo in possession around the half-way line and surged into the Cheltenham box, rounding Townsend before applying a neat finish from 16 yards.

10 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 2-2 Bradford City
Allen's side restored parity for a second time with only 10 minutes played through Townsend after Bozanic had been clattered 35 yards from goal. Hutton swung in the resulting free-kick and the big centre half powered a header past Eastwood, his fifth goal for the club.

12: Hutton narrowly missed the target when he released a shot from 20 yards.

13 SUBSTITUTION: Duff limped out of the game after 13 minutes with an apparent lower leg injury and was replaced by striker Barry Hayles. Richards dropped back to the right midfield while Bozanic moved across to partner David Bird, who wore the armband in the centre half's absence

15 SUBSTITUTION: Cheltenham's plans were dealt a further blow when Bozanic joined Duff on the treatment table by the 15th minute. Boss Allen sent on Kyle Haynes in place of the Australian. The 17-year-old went to right back while Diallo joined Townsend in central defence.

18: Joe Colbeck hooked an 18-yard effort over his shoulder, but it missed the target by a couple of feet.

20 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 2-3 Bradford City
Incredibly by the 20-minute mark Bradford had added a fifth goal. This time O'Brien supplied the cross from a corner on the left and James Hanson headed home to register his first goal for his employers.

43 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 3-3 Bradford City
The sixth and final goal of the opening period feel to the home side, and Richards who opened his Cheltenham Town account in acrobatic style after Lee Ridley had created the chance with one of his trademark long throws. It was initially cleared but Townsend headed it back into the box where the striker executed the perfect bicycle kick to beat Eastwood from eight yards.

45 SUBSTITUTION: Julian Alsop was Cheltenham's third injury-enforced replacement when he replaced Hammond on the stroke of half time.

HALF TIME: 3-3

50 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 3-4 Bradford City
Bradford regained the lead for a fourth time five minutes after a promising enough start to the second half by Cheltenham. Again their defence were guilty of sloppy play, allowing Steve Williams to head home after Hanson had directed Simon Ramsden's free-kick into the path of the Bantams defender.

55: Cheltenham looked to have a strong claim for a penalty 10 minutes after the break when Luke O'Brien appeared to nudge Richards in the back, but referee Grant Hegley was unimpressed.

57: Cheltenham thought they had added their fourth in the 57th minute but Alsop had infringed goalkeeper Eastwood in the build-up, making Hutton's finish redundant.

66: Nimble work by Ridley down the Cheltenham left created a heading opportunity for Hayles 12 yards from goal but the striker's effort was taken low by Eastwood, diving to his left.

69: Hanson took advantage of a slip by Townsend to test Brown from 20 yards, but the Cheltenham number one was equal to the task.

71 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 3-5 Bradford City
The Bantams produced their fifth goal of the afternoon with a little under 20 minutes remaining after Ridley had been harshly adjudged to have impeded Colbeck out on the left touchline. James O'Brien whipped it in and Ramsden's glancing header took a significant deflection off Townsend's back to wrong-foot Brown, and put daylight between the two sides for the first time in the contest.

80: James O' Brien fired one the wrong side of Brown's left upright with ten minutes to play.

82: Bradford moved the ball around well in the closing stages. Hanson and Colbeck combined to fashion a 82nd-minute shooting chance for Michael Flynn 20 yards out, but the midfielder failed to keep his shot on target.

88: Brown was lucky to get away with a heavy touch with a couple of minutes to play, although Colbeck couldn't force it home with the goalkeeper making a telling tackle to deny the winger on the edge of the box.

89 GOAL: Cheltenham Town 4-5 Bradford City
Cheltenham gave themselves a fighting chance with a fourth goal of their own in the penultimate minute of this chaotic match. Hayles delivered it from the left, Townsend headed back across goal and Richards did the rest from close-range to set up a tense finale.

90+3: Alsop almost repeated his feat at Rochdale in midweek, going close to converting Hutton's flighted ball from the right in the last minute of the match after Cheltenham had put together one last attack.

FULL TIME: 4-5

CHELTENHAM TOWN (4-4-2): Brown; Diallo, Townsend, Duff (c) (Hayles 13), Ridley; Bozanic (Haynes 15), Gallinagh, Bird, Hutton; Richards, Hammond (Alsop 45). Subs not used: Watkins, Low, Denton, Richardson (Gk).

BRADFORD CITY (4-5-1): Eastwood; Ramsden, Williams, Rehman (c), L O'Brien; Colbeck, J O'Brien, Bullock, Flynn, Evans; Hanson. Thorne, Brandon, McLaughlin, Boulding, Horne.

REFEREE: G.K. Hegley (Hertfordshire)

ATTENDANCE: 3,073 (297 from Bradford)

Murry Toms at the Abbey Business Stadium