Two tries apiece to Paul Deacon and Lesley Vainikolo helped the Bulls to a 48-22 victory over the London Broncos in a match billed by a section of the media as 'good against evil' at Odsal yesterday.

Curiously, it was Bradford cast as evil after the club voted against a London side chock full of NRL talent acquired during the off-season being allowed to wriggle out of an estimated £3m debt, while London - coming off an impressive 72-8 demolition of Wakefield - were the white knights who would finally succeed in spreading the gospel of rugby league among the non-believers in the south.

So much for the fairy tale.

London may have survived their flirtation with extinction after an emergency meeting of Super League clubs on Friday but, on this evidence, they are still some distance from becoming a genuine power in the game.

Robbie Paul, Paul Johnson, Jamie Langley, Karl Pryce and Brad Meyers all crossed in the nine-try romp, while Deacon kicked six goals to amass 20 points in the match.

Luke Dorn, Tyrone Smith, Solomon Haumono and Paul Sykes hit back with tries for the Broncos, but they were never in the hunt after their early 12-6 lead was overhauled.

Bulls coach Brian Noble declined to comment on off-field issues but was happy to hail his side's improved fluency and rediscovered self-belief following last Friday night's dramatic come-from-behind victory at Wigan.

"There were some really positive steps, with the ball and without it," said Noble.

"Pretty much everybody showed up. We are still making fundamental errors and then compounding them with penalties but we looked fluent in a lot of areas, which was good.

"Confidence is a big thing and the Wigan win last week gave the players the confidence to kick on. We knew we were in for a big challenge so it was important that we showed up and I think we did."

Noble refused to be drawn on referee Ronnie Laughton's at times baffling performance, which saw the Bulls once again on the wrong side of the penalty count.

"You tell me. What did you think of his performance?" he said.