London Broncos 34, Bradford Bulls 8; Nigel Askham at The Stoop.

Bulls certainly believe in making things hard for themselves. Their fifth defeat in seven games means they still can't be assured a place in the play-off series.

Coach Matthew Elliott was quick to praise his players' effort and the way they hit back to give themselves a second-half chance after another awful start.

But effort alone is not going to take them anywhere near the Grand Final and overall the Broncos gave them a lesson in running rugby and supporting the man with the ball.

It was that quality which produced the decisive try two minutes after the re-start when the Bulls needed a score themselves to really make life interesting.

But a charging run by big Kiwi prop Grant Young got the Bulls retreating and some bewildering handling ended with John Timu plunging over on the right flank.

After that it really was no contest with speedy scrum-half Glen Air - deputising for former Bull Shaun Edwards who missed the match with a rib injury - scoring twice more to complete an impressive hat-trick and give the Broncos their third win in the last four meetings between the sides.

The Bulls had made their customary slow start and found themselves 16 points down inside the opening 13 minutes.

Their defensive tone was set for the night in only the third minute as veteran Broncos skipper Peter Gill dummied his way over between recent recruits Neil Harmon and Nathan McAvoy.

Gill then sliced his way through on the opposite flank and looked to have wasted his chance when he passed to Timu but Tolsen Tollett's bomb on the next play found McAvoy wanting and Chris Ryan swooped for the touchdown.

A disastrous spell was complete when swift handling ended with Rob Smyth turning the ball back inside for Air to go over.

At last there was some intensity in the Bulls play as Harvey Howard came off the bench and by half-time they had clawed their way back into contention.

Mike Forshaw was held on his back after one good move but from the resulting scrum a neat change of direction by Robbie Paul allowed Graeme Bradley the chance to finish strongly by the posts.

Steve McNamara's goal followed by a penalty put the game back in the balance and they missed a great chance to move within a converted try when the loose forward missed another shot right on the hooter.

Young forward Stuart Fielden will also be ruing a spilled pass when well placed but Timu's try on the re-start effectively put out the Bulls fire and it was frustration all the way after that as they tried desperately to prise an opening in a well-drilled home defence.

The Bulls weren't exactly helped by referee Russell Smith either as he invariably ruled in the Broncos' favour and it all got too much for Paul who was sin-binned on the hour for disputing an offside call.

He and half-back partner Paul Deacon again struggled to impose themselves and it was largely left to skipper Graeme Bradley to try and provide some thrust in a side badly lacking the attacking prowess of top scorer Tevita Vaikona.

Odsal clashes with lowly Warrington and Salford still give the Bulls the edge for fifth spot but this was undoubtedly another blow for confidence and time is rapidly running out for coach Elliott to find the right formula.

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