St Helens 58, Bradford Bulls 14; Match Report, by Nigel Askham.

The Bulls looked like a side with a hangover as they crashed to their heaviest ever Super League defeat.

Two gruelling encounters against Leeds had left them battered and drained, but it didn't altogether explain a dismal showing.

Lacking five of the side which gained revenge over the Rhinos on Thursday and with a patched-up Henry Paul on the bench, they were always going to be up against it.

Saints were buoyant after their Good Friday win over arch-rivals Wigan and, to be honest, their high-speed style would have made them the last opponents the Bulls would have chosen after their recent exertions.

But after battling well for the first half-hour or so the Bulls collapsed in alarming fashion and the Saints were in the mood to take full advantage.

In the end they rattled up nine tries and served notice that, especially with men like Paul Newlove and Chris Joynt to come back, they will be formidable opponents for anyone come play-off time.

Bernard Dwyer had given the Bulls a rousing start. He took Jimmy Lowes' neat pass close in and powered over against his old club after only five minutes.

And they continued to dominate territorially, but their failure to grab their chances when they were on top proved costly.

One great break by Robbie Paul look to have try written all over it, but somehow Keiron Cunningham got back to halt the Bulls skipper.

Another by Paul Deacon ended with the ball bouncing off Lowes' head when he was well placed.

But when play eventually switched to the other end the Bulls just could not summon up the defensive resolve which was such a key factor in the success over the Rhinos.

Henry Paul was first in the firing line, with Julian O'Neill powering through him to set up new Saints hero Fereti Tuilagi for his first try since his close- season move from Halifax.

Further lapses by Stuart Fielden and Dwyer saw Saints add tries by Anthony Sullivan and Paul Sculthorpe in a seven- minute spell before the break.

When Anthony Stewart scored after the re-start, following a strong Kevin Iro charge, a rout was always on the cards.

The Bulls could hardly raise a gallop at this stage, and, with Henry Paul failing to spark and several others well off the pace, they were a pretty sorry sight by the close.

Substitute Neil Harmon did go over for a try on the hour, but Saints already had 40 points on the board at that stage, and they confirmed their massive superiority on the day with three more tries in the last ten minutes.

Substitute Tim Jonkers went in first. Then Sullivan snapped up Steve McNamara's wayward pass to race 70 yards to score.

The left winger completed his hat-trick three minutes from time.

Another scything break up the middle by Sean Long set up the try, and Tommy Martyn's 11th goal from 12 attempts put the seal on an afternoon to forget for the Bulls.

Dwyer was pick of the forwards and Harmon did some useful running, but you had to feel sorry for youngsters Leon Pryce and Lee Radford, who have waited patiently for their chance.

Pryce fielded the ball well at times, but the midfield defence left him badly exposed.

Radford showed promise and, like Pryce, will be glad of another chance when his colleagues are a little more up for it.

No-one likes defeats, especially of this magnitude, but after a pretty awesome week both physically and emotionally it probably wasn't a day to draw too many conclusions about the Bulls' long-term chances.

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