Bradford Bulls coach Lowes has no case for defence in friendly defeat to Leeds Rhinos

JIMMY Lowes might have cut his players a little slack after losing an essentially meaningless friendly played to honour the career of a Super League legend.

Asked to sum up his feelings after the Bulls hit back from 24-0 down to effectively win the second half of Jamie Peacock’s testimonial, the head coach was not impressed.

“We were poor – conceding thirty-odd points is not good defending,” said Lowes.

“They’re a hard-working bunch but they were off the game today. I’m now closer to my selection for the first game.”

The Bulls had only one field session last week and had been badly hindered by the postponement of the visit of Huddersfield last Sunday.

They will now go into the Championship opener at Leigh in just under three weeks’ time having played only two pre-season friendlies.

There are also question marks hanging over the fitness of several players, with full back Jake Mullaney limping off the field with a twisted ankle in the second half yesterday.

The Bulls defended their line doggedly at times and certainly refused to throw in the towel, as evidenced by a second-half fightback of sorts which harvested three tries.

At times during the first half, it looked and felt like a practice match as Leeds looked to offload at every opportunity.

Their bold approach saw them score four first-half tries which put them 24-0 up and in total control.

After the teams lined up to applaud Peacock shortly before kick-off, he was afforded a fine reception by the several hundred Bulls fans on the Western Terrace and made a point of returning the acknowledgment.

Although a Leeds lad born and bred and a true Rhinos legend, it was at Odsal where Peacock made his name and won a clutch of silverware.

It seems remarkable that, even at the age of 37, Peacock shows no signs of slowing down and he was typically prominent from the off yesterday.

The Bulls actually had the first opportunity to open the scoring after being awarded a penalty deep inside Leeds territory.

They pinned the Rhinos back towards their own line but Lee Gaskell’s ambition got the better of him as his lofted pass to the left flank was plucked out of the air by Tom Briscoe.

Briscoe showed impressive pace to hare 65 metres down the right flank before showing intelligence to send the supporting Kallum Watkins clear.

The Bulls steadied themselves and defended like demons at times to keep their hosts at bay as Carl Ablett and Jamies Jones-Buchanan were both denied from close range.

Yet Leeds continued to probe and grabbed a second try in the 16th minute when Danny McGuire found Ablett and then took his return pass before waltzing over the line.

The Bulls created precious little in attack and Leeds grabbed their third try in the 36th minute as veteran prop Kylie Leulai went under the posts from Joel Moon’ short pass.

Watkins claimed his second try on the stroke of half-time after crossing in the right corner and Kevin Sinfield’s fourth goal made it 24-0.

Yet the response from the Bulls was to be applauded as they hit back with two tries in quick succession in the third quarter of the match.

First, Ryan Shaw hacked the ball forward skilfully down the right flank before grounding in the corner and then, after trialist Charlie Martin had a try disallowed for a forward pass by Gaskell, Chris Ulugia added a second try.

Gaskell found him in the right corner and Ulugia finished with aplomb after replacing full-back Jake Mullaney, who had limped off moments earlier.

Leeds re-established control when Jamie Jones-Buchanan barrelled over the line and Joel Moon powered through a tiring Bradford defence to score in the left corner.

Under-19s rookie Ethan Ryan, Ross Oakes and Liam Kirk came off the bench late on while Gaskell had the final say for Bradford with a breakaway try late on.

Leeds: Golding, Briscoe, Watkins, Moon, Hall, Sinfield, McGuire, Jones-Buchanan, Aiton, Peacock, Ward, Ablett, Cuthbertson.

Interchange: Singleton, Leuluai, Walters, Handley, Burrow, Achurch, Yates, Minchella.

Bulls: Mullaney, Shaw, Purtell, Walker, Williams, Gaskell, Siejka, Tahraoui, O'Brien, Clough, Olbison, Mellor, Pitts.

Interchange: Halafihi, Sidlow, Henry, Brook, Ryan, Oakes, Ulugia, Martin, Walshaw, Kirk, Davies, Conroy.

Referee: Richard Silverwood

Attendance: 11,608