Brentford had to come from behind to earn a point before missing a host of second half chances which may come back to haunt them at the end of the season.
After a bright start Brentford carved out the first real opening of the afternoon on 22 minutes when Ricky Newman's through ball played in Lloyd Owusu who hooked his volley wide of the left-hand post.
But, against the run of play, Bradford took a shock lead eight minutes before half-time when Brentford failed to clear a Ben Muirhead corner. His set-piece was flicked on by Dean Windass and Michael Symes was on hand to volley in from six yards.
And their lead should have been doubled to 60 seconds later when Symes hit the post with a left-foot shot from a distance.
Brentford got back on level terms two minutes before the break when Jamie Smith's low cross was turned in by Owusu.
In the second half, Brentford pushed forward in search of a winner with Owusu guilty of missing two golden chances.
He was first involved to set up Andy Frampton whose left-foot shot was superbly tipped round the post by Donovan Ricketts.
It was then Owusu's turn to fail in front of goal on 74 minutes when he was played in by Newman only to somehow miss from six yards.
And with 13 minutes remaining he missed another chance when he headed Smith's cross wide of the post, even though he was unmarked just six yards out.
But Brentford were lucky as, with just four minutes remaining, keeper Stuart Nelson had to be alert to tip over Danny Cadamarteri's long range effort.