Proud Bulls coach Matthew Elliott hailed his young guns after an injury ravaged side fought off a spirited Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants outfit last night.

Academy stars Alex Wilkinson - making his debut - Rob Parker and Paul Sykes all put in impressive displays alongside hat-trick hero Tevita Vaikona as the Bulls ran out 48-20 winners.

Elliott said he was delighted with his inexperienced players.

"The pleasing thing for me was the performance of our young guys today, especially as most of our team had come through our youth development programme. That's where I get my pride from," he said.

"I thought all the young guys who played sent a message to me. Alex Wilkinson might not have scored any tries but he came up with some great plays and took some tough high balls so his debut was particularly pleasing.

"Rob Parker got his opportunity and did really well. It normally takes a little longer for back rowers to mature into first team football than outside backs but Rob was playing in the toughest part of the park and had a good game."

Bulls struggled to shake off Super League's basement club early on, with only a four-point lead at half-time but Elliott said that could be put down to the club's congested fixture list after playing three games in nine days.

"There was a lot of fatigue out there but the guys worked really hard for each other as well, particularly my props. They were colossal for us," he said.

lBulls' Academy side beat the Giants 26-18 with tries from Nicky Johnson, Mark Coates, Lee Parker, Adam Sullivan and Tony Swift with Ben Western adding three goals.