Bradford Bulls 48

London Broncos 22

The Bulls' misfiring half-backs finally hit top gear to destroy the Broncos on the pitch at Odsal yesterday afternoon amid accusations the club had tried to do likewise off it after the London franchise emerged from an emergency meeting of Super League clubs on Friday having dodged the threat of extinction.

Technically, London did go to the wall on Friday but they were given a new lease of life almost immediately as Super League clubs voted in favour of letting the club reform as a new commercial entity, thus writing off approximately £3m pounds of debt from the books. Having apparently been outbid by an insolvent club for the services of New Zealand international Vinnie Anderson, the Bulls' hierarchy were understandably unimpressed with the Broncos' phoenix-like resurrection. But, with the majority of clubs deciding that a London presence is vital to Super League while the interests of the club's creditors were not, it was business as usual at 3pm yesterday.

And, as usual - despite coming off a resounding 72-8 victory over Wakefield - the Broncos once again flattered to deceive, conceding over 40 points for the fifth time in six meetings with the Bulls.

This was a very different London to last season's relegation-threatened outfit, with NRL recruits Solomon Haumono, Mark McLinden, Mark Tookey and Thomas Leuluai among those providing genuine quality, but the result was pretty much the same - a resounding Bulls win courtesy of a razzle-dazzle display from playmakers Robbie Paul, Paul Deacon and Iestyn Harris.

Lesley Vainikolo opened his Super League X account to put the Bulls in front after just five minutes, cutting in off his wing to collect an inside pass from Paul and barge over near the posts. Deacon's conversion stretched the lead to six but a combination of errors and penalties saw the six-point lead become a six-point deficit just eight minutes later.

Haumono showed good strength to crash over for the Broncos' opener before Luke Dorn profited from a Leuluai grubber that evaded Leon Pryce to grab their second. Paul Sykes knocked over both conversions but there was no hint of panic in the Bulls' ranks.

Paul Johnson crossed after Paul had weaved across the line to create an overlap and Jamie Langley then put them in front with a fine solo effort.

Lee Radford looked to have stretched the lead but his 'try' was ruled out for a double movement but, ten minutes before the break, Vainikolo broke free inside his own 20 to create the try of the match. The powerful Tongan bounced four would-be tacklers out of the way before linking with Karl Pryce, who strode out over the half-way line and found Deacon with an inside ball, the scrum half's clever change of angle taking him clear of the cover defence 40 metres out.

Back-to-back errors from Andy Lynch threatened to let London back in shortly before the break but, with the Bulls' line creaking, Karl Pryce stepped up to intercept McLinden's pass and race 80 metres for a classic '12-point' try.

Vainikolo would have had his second if he'd taken Harris's floated pass from around his ankles four minutes after the break, but it was London who struck first in the second spell, Tyrone Smith making short work of Leon Pryce, who had switched to centre after brother Karl departed at the break with a slight hamstring strain. Sykes added the conversion to cut the deficit to eight, but that was as close as the Broncos got.

Brad Meyers opened his Bulls account after a neat pass from Harris before Paul effectively settled the match, slicing over from a classic dummy-scissors movement in the 58th minute.

Meyers sent Deacon over for his second as the Bulls looked sure to smash the 50-point mark but, when Leon Pryce was ordered to end a mixed day in the sin-bin for holding down Smith, the Broncos mounted some late resistance, Sykes ghosting through the vacant left-centre channel.

There was still time for one last Paul partypiece when his chip kick bounced on its point and sat up for Vainikolo but Deacon's failed conversion attempt at least spared the Broncos the misery of conceding 50.

Bulls coach Brian Noble wouldn't be drawn on the off-field manoeuvrings surrounding London but Broncos coach Tony Rae insisted his club's flirtation with extinction hadn't affected their display.

"It was nothing to with that," said Rae, who also played down Bradford's alleged role as ring leaders in the bid to have the Broncos removed from the competition. "We are a footy team, we don't get involved in the politics. The majority of clubs wanted us, which is great news. We trained pretty good all week. We just didn't put our best foot forward."

As for where Anderson will end up when the smoke clears - Odsal or Griffin Park - Rae declined

to comment.

"Today is about the game. It has nothing to do with that."