Rhinos 22, Bulls 33

Bulls found their championship-winning form at last to put a dent in the Super League title hopes of their arch-rivals in a rip-roaring encounter at Headingley.

And it was a former Leeds player, second-rower Mike Forshaw, who did most of the damage with a brace of tries.

The Bulls, with just one win in their last four matches, made a mockery of the form guide to end Leeds' unbeaten home Super League record in front of a crowd of 16,824 and make amends for their 26-6 Odsal defeat at Easter.

The Bulls were in rampant form for the first 50 minutes, establishing a 30-6 lead with some breathtaking rugby reminiscent of their champagne season of 1997.

Steve McNamara and Robbie Paul, two of their key performers last year, were back to their brilliant best to spearhead an onslaught that threatened to eclipse the joint leaders.

But they were forced to withstand a terrific fightback from the Rhinos, who scored three tries in 12 minutes to set up a heart-stopping finish.

The 64th-minute dismissal of winger Jon Scales for a high tackle on Paul Sterling looked set to prove costly as Leeds got the deficit back to nine points but the reigning champions clung on for a famous victory.

The win maintained hooker James Lowes' proud record of never having lost to his old club but it looked to be going wrong for him when he was sin-binned in the first half after a bout of fisticuffs.

The match got off to an explosive start, with referee Stuart Cummins struggling to keep control in the early stages.

Trouble flared as early as the 12th minute when Andy Hay (Leeds) and Bernard Dwyer (Bradford) exchanged blows and Cummings issued a final warning to the captains.

When Lowes and Rhinos' Tony Kemp sparked yet more unsavoury scenes, Cummings had little choice but to send both men to the bin.

Leeds had an early Graham Holroyd try disallowed because of obstruction and Bradford went ahead a minute later when second-rower Forshaw supported a break by McNamara to cross for the game's first try.

The Rhinos hit back when Iestyn Harris and Brad Godden combined from a scrum heel on halfway to get winger Francis Cummins racing in for his eighth try of the season but Elliott's men struck twice more in 10 minutes before the break when Scales and Paul - on his 100th appearance - grabbed tries.

The Bulls led 18-6 at the break and they took the game away from their hosts with two further tries within 10 minutes of the re-start from Forshaw and Matt Calland.

Leeds at last got their act together, with Cummins grabbing his second try and substitute winger Marvin Golden pouncing after a clever kick from Holroyd.

Harris' third goal made it 30-18 and, although McNamara edged his side further in front with a drop goal, an 80-metre interception try from Holroyd set the scene for a grandstand finish.

But McNamara calmed his sides' nerves with a 79th-minute penalty for his sixth success from as many attempts.

It put the seal on a memorable night for the Bulls and their travelling fans who were in the doldrums two weeks ago after a run of three successive defeats.

They even received an apology from the Bulls players following the loss at Salford but now they are very much forgiven.

The wheels appear to be back on the wagon and in the post Shaun Edwards era everything is beginning to look bright again as the Bulls now take a well deserved break before their clash with the London Broncos at Edinburgh on July 18.

It looks like it could be a happy trip.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.