Bulls trio to miss out on England date

Scrum half Deacon was injured in the closing minutes of Sunday night's Tetley's Super League derby against Halifax Blue Sox.

And Fielden had not fully recovered from the previous weekend's derby against Leeds Rhinos at Valley Parade.

Bulls coach Brian Noble said: "Paul got a kick on the shin, and Stuart had a 'dead leg' and we will give both of them a fitness test today.

"But the other four Bulls players (Paul Anderson, Brian McDermott, Jamie Peacock and Leon Pryce) should be OK to face Wales."

Kiwi Robbie Paul was on the wrong end of a crunching Phil Hassan tackle in the 56th minute, and was very weak-kneed when he got up, having to be helped off the pitch.

Hassan showed some concern for his fellow professional after what was a fair but strong challenge. However, Noble said: "Robbie was lucid afterwards."

He added: "Stuart would have wanted to face Halifax above all other opponents."

the 21-year-old Bulls prop lives in Hebden Bridge and was at Calder High School with Blue Sox's Andy Hobson.

As for the game itself, Noble said: "It was not tougher than we expected. It is an emotional derby for them, but we really muscled up in the second half . . . got tough in the third and fourth quarters.

"There are always distractions, but you expect them when you come here (The Shay).

"We haven't been at our best, but we still scored 52 points, which is very pleasing."

The victory put Bulls two points ahead of Wigan at the top of the table.

There was a power cut at The New Shay, and temporary generators were used to restore electricity from before the kick-off until the end of another enthralling contest.

But Halifax Blue Sox could never turn off the power of Bulls winger Tevita Vaikona, whose hat-trick of tries helped to subdue opponents who, as happened eight days ago in the derby against Leeds, were not flattered by the final scoreline.

"Tevita was absolutely outstanding," said Bulls coach Brian Noble. "He has strength and speed and is world-class."

But Blue Sox, who didn't help themselves when two Jamie Bloem kick-offs went straight into touch and led to the concession of eight points, played a full part in what was, for the most part, another compelling derby.

Bloem's first error came from the initial kick-off and gave Robbie Paul the chance to ghost over from 30 metres out as early as the third minute. After an exchange of penalties, the Bulls scored an exquisite second try in the 14th minute that owed everything to some brilliant handling, Daniel Gartner crossing on the left after a six-man move.

Brian McDermott's swinging punch on Matty Firth was the signal for Halifax's revival, however.

Bloem landed the penalty to cut the deficit to six points, and then a pin-point kick by Gavin Clinch put Jim Gannon over, and winger Damian Gibson scored on the left wing after an overlap had been created.

Accurate goal-kicker Bloem's two conversion gave Blue Sox a surprise 16-10 lead, but Bulls again weaved their deadly spell down the Halifax right for henry Paul and Gartner to put last week's hero Leon Pryce over, Henry Paul tying matters up with the goal.

With the minutes to half-time ticking away, Robbie Paul's long pass gave Vaikona half a chance on the right, and the winger's renowned strength and speed did the rest, backing up the old adage that a good big 'un always beat a good little 'un - or in this case more than one good little 'un!

The second instance of Bloem not knowing the power of his right boot then cost his team a further two points, but Blue Sox still finished the period on the up after Andrew Dunemann scored following a choice move which he started himself.

While Phil Hassan's treble juggle distracted the eye - and perhaps the Bulls defence to a degree - the centre still had the presence of mind to put Dunemann over for the try on his inside.

Bloem's goal meant the visitors were only leading by two points at the interval - a much needed breathing space for all after a pulsating 40 minutes - but lady luck soon deserted the home side on the resumption.

An intended interception bounced backwards off a Halifax player's arm and the ball was swooped on by a Bulls player to give them a new set of six when they were well into Blue Sox territory. The end result was that prop Paul Anderson forced his way over in the 44th minute, despite the best efforts of several Halifax defenders.

Henry Paul added the goal, and Vaikona then bagged his second try, albeit from an unusual source.

A slide-rule grubber kick down the right wing found a small gap in Halifax's defence and that was all the encouragement the Tongan needed.

Another Henry Paul goal - this time for ball stealing - stretched the margin to 14 points in the 51st minute, and it was then that Noble introduced Paul Deacon, taking off Henry Paul.

Five minutes later the Kiwi was back on, however, Robbie Paul having been fairly clattered by Hassan and, looking very rubbery-legged, was helped gingerly off.

Busy winger Oli Marns did well to get on the end of his own kick through, but that was their last act of defiance, Bulls pulling away to win - as they had against Leeds - with tries by centre Graham Mackay and Vaikona.