MICHAEL Lawrence says the Bulls were determined to avoid another embarrassment at Keighley.

Eamon O’Carroll’s side can look ahead to an 1895 Cup home quarter-final with Swinton after a 26-18 derby win at Cougar Park yesterday.

The Bulls were humbled by their neighbours on their previous visit – and skipper Lawrence revealed that had been discussed in the build-up.

“I was there last year but didn’t play because I was injured at that time,” he said.

“But we spoke about that game last week and how we got ambushed a little bit.

“A lot of players in that squad had not played there before so they’d not experienced the crowd, the noise, the slope and the tiny changing rooms.

“There are a lot of excuses you can make up for performing poorly on that ground. We did that last year.

“We spoke about having a no-excuse mentality this time. We were going to go there and perform.

“We knew what it was going to be like. It was going to be loud, we know there was going to be a hill and the fans are close to you.

“You’ve got to put all that aside and show up and play well. I think we did that in patches and did enough to get the win.”

Lawrence, playing his first game of the year after a recent back problem, felt Sunday’s clash was ideal preparation ahead of the new Championship campaign.

Bulls kick off next month with a trip to title favourites Wakefield and face a testing early schedule.

He added: “Some teams have been winning by 80 or 100 points. We don’t want that.

“We knew this was their Grand Final for the season and the owner was giving them massive win pay for beating us. They were pumped full of energy and we had to match that.

“It was a tough, competitive game right down to the last 10 minutes. That will put us in good stead going into the season.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Michael Lawrence with his daughters after his 350th gameMichael Lawrence with his daughters after his 350th game (Image: Tom Pearson)

“We’ve got a tough start with playing four of the top six from last year.

“But I think that’s a good chance to catch them early in the season.

“We’re confident, we’re playing well and will keep building every week. As long as we continue to do that, we’ll be fine going into those games.”

Lawrence reached a personal milestone with his 350th career appearance and his family were there to see the win.

“It was good to be back out there with the boys. But there is lots to improve on.

“We made it a lot harder work than it needed to be.

“I think our discipline is something we definitely need to work on, especially when we start to play Championship teams.

“We’re just putting ourselves under way too much pressure. We were doing far too much defending, especially in the first half.

“We’ll learn lessons. The main thing was to come away with the win.”