Warriors win the battle

Leeds' defeat at Castleford on Friday had given the Bulls an opportunity to extend their lead to five points by recording a ninth successive win en route to Grand Final glory.

And they travelled across the Pennines confident that top spot could soon be secured, following Daryl Powell's claim that the Bulls' lead at the top was now unassailable.

Or was this mind games by the Rhinos coach aimed at engendering complacency in the Odsal ranks?

Psychological warfare or not, the Bulls clearly failed to live up to their awesome potential, despite being boosted by the return of Paul Deacon and Leon Pryce, who both missed last week's win against Hull.

Their opponents were equally spurred by the return of Great Britain full back Kris Radlinski, after a 14-match absence following wrist surgery, as the Bulls were forced to play second fiddle to a Wigan side galvanised by inspirational skipper Andy Farrell and recently-appointed coach Mike Gregory.

The opening period was frenetic, with Brian Carney having to tap dead a Paul Deacon grubber before the first half became characterised by decisions made by video referee Gerry Kershaw.

Shontayne Hape was unlucky when he reached through a three-man tackle to try to ground the ball, only to see it slip from his grasp but Wigan's threat on the counter-attack was as effective as their cover defence.

Sure enough, they took the lead with a pinpoint kick from scrum half Luke Robinson which Tevita Vaikona failed to deal with and Brett Dallas capitalised on to make it 4-0, but Farrell missed the goal.

Vaikona had failed to deal with an earlier, similar high kick which led to a try from hooker Terry Newton being disallowed by Kershaw.

The Bulls were denied for a second time when Martin Aspinwall just managed to kick Lowes' grubber dead before Danny Gartner grounded. Hodgson and Radlinski combined to stop Jamie Peacock at the corner as the Bulls continued to be thwarted by Wigan's excellent defence.

And Wigan further extended their lead two minutes before the break, when Radlinski charged through to collect Robinson's fine reverse kick and score, with the defensive qualities displayed so majestically at Headingley a fortnight ago sadly lacking.

Farrell's goal gave them a 10-0 lead at the break, but they withstood more Bulls pressure at the start of the second half before claiming two quick-fire tries.

A forward pass from Lowes to Lee Radford gave Wigan possession, and Farrell fed Aspinwall from the scrum for the young centre to step across the defensive line on a diagonal run to the corner, touching down despite Reardon's last-ditch tackle.

And Farrell's bullet pass on 52 minutes allowed the impressive Brian Carney to dive in at the corner, with the conversion putting Wigan 20-0.

With Noble sat near footballing champions Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane and Nicky Butt in the directors' box, the vantage point afforded the Bulls boss a fine view of his troops as they attempted, somewhat in vain, to further display their own championship credentials.

The trip to the home of the Manchester United trio on October 18 for the Grand Final is the ultimate aim at the back of Noble's mind although the defending here at times, was more of a nightmare than a theatre of dreams.

However, the Bulls soon responded, as Lowes' clever reverse pass sent Joe Vagana charging over from close range to finally register, with Deacon goaling.

But when Radford and Hape allowed the restart to bounce into touch, Wigan used the possession for Farrell to hand off Lowes and cross for their fifth try and establish a 24-6 lead.

Lee Gilmour, who moved out to the wing when Lesley Vainikolo limped off with a hamstring injury, denied Carney a second at the corner. And the Bulls moved to within 12 points after 68 minutes when Peacock's offload allowed Lowes to free Scott Naylor, and Vaikona added the finishing touch, rounding Radlinski before touching down, with Deacon goaling to reduce the arrears to 24-12.

The impressive Aspinwall then broke clear from inside his own half soon afterwards to relieve the pressure, although the equally impressive Reardon managed to tackle him at the second attempt.

Farrell missed an attempted drop goal wide but was on target with a penalty with three minutes to go - following Stuart Fielden's swinging arm on him - to condemn the Bulls to a sore defeat.

Wigan played with a verve, passion and steely determination that allowed them to emerge victorious over a Bulls side who clearly failed to match their recent performances.

And as Vainikolo said: "As a team, we didn't even perform and Wigan came out on fire from the first whistle to the last. Give credit to them and we will just have to take it on the chin."

However, Lowes believes that the Bulls will be lining up at Old Trafford on October 18, saying: "They played well but we will be there in the

final, so it's not the end of the world. Big games come along, you need to take your chances and Wigan did, so it's fair play to them.

"We need a win at London but are still three points clear and the ball is in our hands - it's as simple as that."

Beware Broncos, because the inevitable backlash looks set to begin at Griffin Park on Sunday. Bulls fans will be hoping for it, Brian Noble will demand it.

The Bulls Junior Academy side rounded off their season with a 36-22 victory over Wigan, but the margin was not enough to see them pip St Helens for second spot.

The Bulls had the match sewn up by half-time, racing in to a 28-12 lead but Wigan hit back in the second period to give the scoreline some respectability.

Recent signing Matthew Cook was a try scorer for his third successive game, touching down twice, with winger Dave Halley, Matthew Bottom, Craig Copczak, Tony Tonks and Brett Ferres also crossing the line for the Bulls. Ferres also added four goals.

Danny Speakman, Tom Brindle, Lee Jewitt and Greg Mannion were the Wigan try-scorers, with full back Andrew Ballard landing three goals.