Wakefield 4 Bulls 14

Back to business. Not so much with a bang but after the week Bradford have had, who cares?

Seven days on from their Cardiff fiasco, and all the amazing controversy, accusations and revelations that followed, the Bulls safely negotiated their passage through to the Carnegie Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

There was none of the high drama of the Millennium Stadium and everyone admitted it was "ugly" to say the least.

But with persistent rain driving down, injury problems galore and facing gutsy opponents desperate for any sort of victory, boss Steve McNamara didn't complain. Job done.

They weren't without frights. For nearly 40 minutes, until Matt Cook scrambled over off Luke George's mistake late on, Wakefield trailed by just six points at a drenched Belle Vue and there was always a fear the Bulls could get stung again.

But it never seemed likely and their spirit, drive, two more tries for man-of-the-match Lesley Vainikolo, allied to an excellent defensive performance, saw them home.

Vainikolo got his first on eight minutes, although by the time video referee Phil Bentham awarded the score the clock seemed to have ticked nearer half-time.

After all that Cardiff furore, you could excuse the official for taking his time to make sure he got the call spot-on. Every referee will now be under immense scrutiny following the admissions of Steve Ganson and Ashley Klein this week.

The delays were more to do with failure of the BBC - not as polished as Sky when it comes to technology - to get the conclusive shot he was after but when they eventually did, Wakefield boss John Kear still reckoned the decision was a "joke".

Wildcats felt Vainikolo and David Solomona both knocked on after challenging Jason Demetriou for Paul Deacon's high kick and initially that seemed the case.

But replays suggested when Vainikolo finally got a hand to the loose ball it was a clean try, much to the disbelief of the home crowd. Hands up who wants to be a ref.

Jamie Langley had already limped off with a hamstring strain but it didn't affect Bradford, who dominated the opening exchanges without ever making their pressure tell.

Conditions made handling difficult and nothing too adventurous was tried offensively.

Wakefield, meanwhile, hadn't won in six games and Kear showed his frustrations by swinging the axe.

Influential scrum-half Ben Jeffries was dropped to the bench, there was a debut for Luke George, 19, at centre while England stand-off Jamie Rooney was bizarrely used as a full back.

The re-jig didn't work though and it wasn't until they scored in the 28th minute that Wakefield even had possession in Bradford's half.

The visitors defended admirably and their solid efforts meant Wakefield couldn't gain any field position.

Cook, meanwhile, had a try dubiously ruled out for a knock-on and Michael Platt almost fashioned an opportunity for Nathan McAvoy in the corner, only for the final pass to let him down, but Vainikolo got his second to hand the Bulls some reward, starting and finishing the crisp move himself.

He set James Evans clear with a fine pass down the blindside and, after the centre had shown good speed and strength to fend off and outflank Demetriou and evade Rooney, Vainikolo was on hand to collect the pass out of Sam Obst's desperate tackle.

The introduction of Jeffries raised Wildcats' tempo though and not long after he had entered the fray they got their sole effort.

Fellow substitute Jason Golden was dumped in a huge Chris McKenna tackle on halfway but as he fell he forced out a hopeful offload.

It went loose on the ground, Rooney was the first to react and he snapped it up to dash clear, rounding Platt before directing a perfect kick to the corner, speedster White winning the foot race with McAvoy.

The second half started horribly for the Bulls when Chris Feather broke his ankle while tackling Golden with Solomona, his foot getting caught under the weight of both as they fell, with agonising results for the prop. He was stretchered off to leave the Bulls - already missing Joe Vagana with a calf problem - light up front.

Platt almost got over after one scintillating burst onto a Iestyn Harris pass, classily accelerating past Rooney but just getting hauled in by Obst.

The full back was another to be limping off soon after though when he bravely dived at the feet of Ryan Atkins as they contested a dangerous kick through.

Sam Burgess incensed the Wildcats players with one heavy tackle on White as things looked like boiling over but referee Ian Smith calmed the situation.

The Wildcats came close to scoring during one brief period of pressure but McKenna pulled off a fine tackle on Ned Catic and then Iestyn Harris nailed Jeffries as he tried wriggling through.

Still winning by just six, you could see why Deacon attempted a drop goal in the final quarter but his effort surprisingly missed.

The skipper was put racing away by a delicate Solomona pass soon after but he fed Evans when Vainikolo was the better option and Rooney got back.

Cook's try finally relieved the pressure though and it was just reward for a young player who has been impressing of late.

Vainikolo and Solomona could have made the scoreline more flattering at the end but both saw their breaks come to nothing. It didn't matter. The Bulls are still on that road to Wembley.

Afterwards, McNamara, paid tribute to Burgess, whose father died from motor neurone disease ten days ago.

"That's all been lost in the furore over what happened last week," he said.

"Sam's 18 and with those responsibilities he is a credit to himself and to his family.

"As a club we're so proud of him and obviously we'll be in attendance at his father's funeral. To do what he' s done is nothing short of immense."

  • The quarter-final draw is live on BBC News 24 at 4.45pm tomorrow.

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