Rampant Bradford Bulls are top ten smash hits in Sheffield

IF not quite the 80-minute performance that Jimmy Lowes had been looking for, it was not far off.

Largely dominant throughout and clinical with the chances that came their way, this was an impressive statement from the Bulls.

In ruthlessly dismantling top-four rivals Sheffield, Lowes’ men gave their best performance of the season as they marched to a tenth straight Championship victory.

Eagles director of rugby Mark Aston had seen the Bulls ship seven tries against Doncaster seven days previously, encouraging him that those weaknesses could be exploited yesterday.

But Aston admitted his men underperformed badly and Bradford were significantly improved, so the outcome was a one-sided victory for the home side.

Adam O’Brien was outstanding yet again, Dale Ferguson underlined his class with a brace of tries, and plenty of other players shone too.

A number of Sheffield players, by contrast, failed to turn up and Aston reckoned that centre Menzie Yere had his worst-ever game for the club.

He might not have been the only one.

There was a strong ex-Bradford contingent in the Eagles’ line-up, with former Odsal stalwart Jamie Langley starting at second row, and Tony Tonks and Keal Carlile also in the team.

But the visitors lost scrum half Dominic Brambani, another Bradford lad, to an early head injury and they never really recovered.

The only negatives were the sight of Jake Mullaney departing midway through the first half after aggravating the hamstring injury which had recently kept him sidelined.

The Bulls also switched off twice late on, conceding two tries, but they had long since secured the points.

Sheffield had looked so lethal in attack when dismantling Halifax at the Keepmoat Stadium a week previously.

But they were a pale shadow of that side yesterday as the Bulls established a 22-0 interval advantage.

It was the least they deserved for their stunning superiority.

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It was undoubtedly one of the Eagles’ biggest games of the season, but they simply failed to turn up in the opening 40 minutes.

Langley was afforded a warm round of applause when his name was read out over the Tannoy shortly before kick-off.

But when the action got underway, the Bulls proceeded to take Sheffield to the cleaners.

It was Eagles to the slaughter and Bradford scored their first try in the seventh minute.

Sheffield were penalised for holding down and were soon made to pay as, after O’Brien had been held up, Ferguson’s desire and strength saw him outmuscle the visiting defence to power over the line.

Ferguson looked difficult to stop at times last week against Doncaster and he continued in a similar vein yesterday, giving the Eagles no end of problems inside the left channel.

O’Brien, as has become the norm, dictated play from dummy-half and Sheffield were not helped by the early loss of Brambani, which prompted a reshuffle.

Still, the Bulls continued to probe and the game was largely played inside the Eagles’ half.

Lee Gaskell, who again shone with the ball in hand and with a steady stream of testing kicks, almost burst clear of the Sheffield defence before Pat Walker halted his progress with a fine tackle.

Two teasing kicks from Cory Aston – son of the Sheffield boss, who was arguably the visitors’ best player – forced the Bulls to drop out twice in quick succession.

But they could make neither opportunity pay and the Bulls defended stoutly before heading down the other end of the field and scoring a second try in the 21st minute.

Sheffield were again made to pay from a penalty as Tom Olbison powered over the line from close range after Ferguson, Danny Addy and Adrian Purtell had all gone close.

The Eagles then had a decent set deep in Bradford territory which ended up with Tonks going close, but nothing more.

And on the half-hour, the Bulls grabbed their third try when Adam Henry produced a delightful piece of skill to send Etu Uaisele over the line.

The New Zealander chipped the ball over the top down the right flank and then collected possession before an audacious reverse offload sent the supporting Uaisele over the line.

It was brilliant stuff from the Bulls and they grabbed a fourth three minutes later thanks to more slick handling as Purtell’s fine pass sent the returning Danny Williams over in the left corner.

Henry took a knock after being held up as he sought to add a fifth home try on the stroke of half-time but he was fine to continue.

At 22-0 it was effectively game over by the time the interval hooter sounded.

But could the Bulls maintain the same level of intensity?

They did not quite manage the same fluency in attack, which was partly due to Sheffield showing the kind of determination they should really have showed from the outset.

Nevertheless, nine minutes after the restart, after O’Brien had been denied from close range, Ferguson was on hand to collect the ball and dive over on the next tackle.

With Addy kicking his fourth goal from five attempts, the Bulls were 28-0 ahead.

Sheffield thought they had scored when Scott Turner touched the ball down in the left corner but Shaw had already got a hand to it.

From the resultant drop-out, Sheffield winger Rob Worrincy knocked on horribly under no pressure, which pretty much summed his team up.

The Bulls began to up the tempo as the game progressed and they were rewarded with two tries in quick succession.

After Alex Mellor was held up over the line, Adam Sidlow was on hand to power his way through Quentin Laulu-Togagae and Eddie Battye to score.

Barely a minute later, the gulf in class between the sides was illustrated again as O’Brien brilliantly fended off Menzie Yere and broke clear, with Henry, Uaisele and Shaw all in support. The young hooker chose to pass to Henry and he galloped over the line in clinical fashion.

Sheffield eventually got off the mark in the 68th minute when Turner burst past Shaw to score a try which Michael Knowles converted.

The Bulls switched off again with five minutes left as the lively Aston finished off a fine break to dive under the posts and Knowles converted again with give Sheffield a semblance of respectability. Purtell touched down in the closing stages inside the left channel and Addy kicked his seventh goal from eight attempts in front of a crowd of 4,847.