Record-breaking Bulls power to 124-0 win

YOU had to feel sorry for the guys  updating the Odsal scoreboard as the Bulls went points crazy yesterday.

The 21-try demolition over whipping boys West Wales saw them top three figures for the first time in the club's history.

It left the poor operators  having to hold the extra number because there wasn’t a third column to cope!

As records tumbled, Dane Chisholm bagged a staggering 48 points to smash the previous best of 32 set by Henry Paul against Salford 18 years earlier.

Chisholm finished only eight adrift of Chris Thorman’s all-time record of 56 for York in 2011 – but the Bulls’ crushing tally could not catch the 144 that the Knights had clocked up a week before against the same hapless opponents.

But the century was enough to see the Bulls ease into top spot on points difference.

So much for John Kear’s pre-match message that they didn’t need to claw that back all in one afternoon!

The coach had tried – publicly at least – to play down expectations of a cricket score.

But maybe the jokes that they should have borrowed Yorkshire’s scoreboard from Headingley weren’t too far off the mark.

Twenty-one tries, 13 different scorers, two hat-tricks – and nearly half a century of points from the back-up kicker Chisholm – not bad from a “lose, lose” situation as Kear had called it.

Poor West Wales had sacked coach Jon Ellis in the week after the Bootham Crescent humiliation. But caretaker boss Phil Carleton, a former South Wales Scorpions team-mate of Dalton Grant, suffered just as painful an afternoon in Yorkshire.

Grant was back after missing the Doncaster win because of a family bereavement and his eyes would have lit up at the firmer ground.

Five weeks on from clearing the snow to get a game on at Hunslet, Odsal baked in the bank holiday sun – to the delight of all the Bulls ball players. And how they cashed in.

With no Joe Keyes, Kear had moved Brandon Pickersgill into the halves and Jy Hitchcox took up full-back role. Sam Hallas reprised the loose-forward role he played at Leeds.

And after a sloppy start, which saw the kick-off fly out on the full, the Bulls wasted no time in tucking in.

Callum Bustin was first to go over as George Flanagan took a whack setting up the prop.

A second try quickly followed with a flowing move through six pairs of hands ended with Grant cantering in.

The Bulls made it three tries in the opening 12 minutes when Ethan Ryan jumped over Mathew Davies to claim Flanagan’s chip to the corner.

Before the hooker then set up a fourth with an inside pass for Hallas under the posts.

Chisholm, on kicking duties with no Keyes, had been perfect with the boot before joining the try-scoring jamboree himself. Ryan and Matty Garside combined to break out of their half before Chisholm took over to finish from 30 metres out.

A goalline drop-out created yet another scoring opportunity but West Wales briefly halted the flood. They were still 30-0 adrift at the midpoint of the first half.

The Bulls had announced James Laithwaite’s loan extension to the end of the season before kick-off. And the Toronto second-rower celebrated by taking Pickersgill’s pass in for try number six.

West Wales’ difficult day was summed up when Ross Price was forced off within minutes of coming off the bench.

The Bulls used the stop in play to add Ross Peltier and Mikey Wood to the fray – and Peltier was straight in the thick of it with a carry to halfway.

Pickersgill took it on before unleashing Lee Smith to go in for try number seven and Matty Garside swiftly became the eighth different Bulls player to go over.

After a couple of assists, Pickersgill added his name to the lengthening scoresheet when he combined with Ashley Gibson to carve through.

But the first-half blitz had not finished as Chisholm became the first try-scorer to double up, turning on the after burners to race away from the halfway line.

The Aussie’s subsequent simple goal, extending his 100 per cent record into double figures, took his personal tally to 28 points.

And the crushing 60-0 half-time score also matched that of York on the way to their record.

West Wales had a sniff following Ryan’s knock-on to start the second half but Macauley Harris was held up.

The stampede then continued as Elliot Minchella, who scored five tries in the Challenge Cup thumping of the Raiders, helped himself to a quickfire double – including the score of the match with an angled run from 30 metres.

In between, Peltier became the 11th different scorer as he bounded over gleefully – and then had the crowd on their feet when he launched a break from inside his own half. He was caught but the ball was ferried wide where Pickersgill finished the job in the corner.

Chisholm’s superb kick from the touchline toppled Henry Paul’s 18-year record.

Garside was another new name on the rapidly-expanding try list, going in under the sticks and he was followed over by Vila Halafihi. It was easier to pick out those who hadn’t scored!

Grant pouched a long looping pass for his second and then Minchella touched down for his hat-trick after a neat step 20 metres out.

Ryan doubled up with another quality strike, snaking in the corner – but Chisholm actually failed with the conversion. His first miss – at the 19th attempt – drew some good-natured boos from the fans.

He soon had another go and made no mistake after Garside sealed his hat-trick after Ryan’s mazy run had broken the weary West Wales line.

Then Flanagan put the lid on it with a smile as he extravagantly grounded the ball to make up for that mishap at the Keepmoat. Chisholm, of course, added the extras to give the scoreboard operator one more job.

BULLS: Hitchcox 6, Ryan 8, Gibson 7, Smith 7, Grant 7, Pickersgill 8, Chisholm 9, Kirk 7, Flanagan 7, Bustin 7, Garside 8, Laithwaite 7, Hallas 7. Interchange: Halafihi 7, Peltier 7, Wood 7, Minchella 7.

WEST WALES: Ward 5, Davies 5, Walker 5, Haile 5, Baker 5, Tennant 6, Hunter 5, Parker 5, Harris 5, Elliott 5, Snook 4, Lewis 4, Parry 4. Interchange: Price 4, Kaye 4, Simon 4, Desmond-Walker 4.