It's capital masterclass

A 56-12 demolition of London at Griffin Park saw Bradford bounce back from last week's defeat at Wigan in fine style, with a display of clinical finishing allowing them to register over 50 points in the capital for the second time in a month.

With injuries ruling out both Leon Pryce and Lesley Vainikolo, Brian Noble recalled Lee Gilmour and the fit-again Karl Pratt to the starting line-up.

Shontayne Hape switched from his regular left centre slot to left wing, while Gilmour took Hape's position at left centre.

Pratt had a superb all-round game to dominate proceedings alongside the awe-inspiring presence of Jamie Peacock, whose brilliant performance served to compliment the excellent kicking game of Paul Deacon and the power of Paul Anderson and Joe Vagana.

Noble said: "It was great to get Karl Pratt back but I thought Deacon and Peacock were also superb. But I have got to say that the whole 17 were superb.

"We responded well to last week's reversal and we generally do respond well. It's a tough trip to come down here, to put that kind of scoreline on and we've got to say that we're delighted."

But before succumbing to the gulf in class, London's first-half efforts saw them begin the match brightly and display enough potential to threaten the Bulls' hopes of victory.

And early London pressure led to former Bulls academy player Paul Sykes missing an early penalty, but the respite was short-lived as the Broncos took the lead within ten minutes.

Russell Bawden's break set up the position for Steele Retchless to run across the face of the Bulls defence, dummy to Deacon and weave through the gap and cross the line on his record-equalling 171st appearance for the club.

Sykes scored the goal, but the score merely served as a minor wake-up call for the Bulls, who duly got back on level terms five minutes later. Deacon and Pratt combined to send Peacock bursting through from 20 metres for a superb try, with Deacon converting to level the scores at 6-6.

Deacon's continued success with the boot saw him pass 1,000 points for the Bulls - a truly remarkable achievement for a young player who will surely only get better and better.

London had a try disallowed on 27 minutes when Rob Purdham's pass to Bill Peden was ruled forward, which incensed the small but partisan Griffin Park faithful.

The Bulls then began playing the type of football which has seen them possess arguably the best go forward in Super League and, as Pratt's influence began to grow, the Bulls fired a double salvo within two minutes, which effectively killed off London and allowed them to take an 18-6 interval lead.

Firstly, Pratt was the architect of the move, as he danced across the face of the London defence and Peacock, on the angled run, stormed in for his second score. And if the Peacock-propelled Bulls are to emerge victorious at Old Trafford on October 18, then the contribution of the Great Britain second row throughout the season would be hard to gauge.

There have undoubtedly been many jewels in the Bulls' crown this season but Peacock has been that rarest of gems, making a priceless contribution towards a club where he is thankfully contracted for another two years.

And from the resulting set of six, James Lowes ran to the blind side on the last tackle before kicking back inside, with Hape and Deacon hacking on before Radford collected to score.

Deacon added both goals and although the Bulls lost Stuart Fielden with a knee injury before the break, Noble revealed that afterwards that it wasn't the knee that has caused him to miss so much of this season.

The first half had certainly been no picnic and although the ascendancy had been gained, Noble's half-time words clearly worked.

"The Broncos got off to a flying start and there was plenty to talk about at half-time but the reality was the confidence soon came flooding back in the second half," said the Bulls boss as his troops marched back out with a steely determination that has become the hallmark of the team.

Add the obvious class and intricate probings of Peacock, Pratt and Lowes to the physical presence of Anderson, Vagana and the blossoming Rob Parker - and a route could duly begin.

Sure enough, the Bulls moved further ahead five minutes after half-time when Deacon's long pass out wide picked out an unmarked Hape, who will rarely score an easier try.

Lowes then dived over from dummy half in the 50th minute after Mike Forshaw was stopped short and Parker charged over on 56 minutes as the Bulls chalked up 24 points in as many minutes.

Broncos hooker Neil Budworth had a 60th-minute effort ruled out for another forward pass, which hardly endeared referee Connolly to the Griffin Park faithful, and the Bulls then took full advantage with the impressive Radford expertly setting up Tevita Vaikona at the other end of the pitch.

Lowes then sent Vaikona across the line for his second try after 65 minutes as the Bulls ran riot.

Noble added: "Vaikona showed why he is such a good winger and we mixed and matched on the left with Hape and Gilmour and I just think our front row got us forward so well."

Vagana brought up the 50-point mark after 69 minutes before Andrew King went in from close range for a 73rd-minute consolation and Joe Caine converted. But by then the points had long been secured and this vital victory now sets up a mouth-watering clash with Leeds on Sunday, in a game that will surely decide who finishes top of Super League before the play offs begin.

At the final whistle, Noble and his players took the time to head towards the sizeable travelling Bradford contingent and applaud the performance of the fans.

The feeling was mutual.