Swinton Lions 16 Bradford Bulls 30

IT MAY be all over in terms of their survival fight but a second win on the spin is proof the Bulls are not giving up.

Having put a dent in Oldham's bid to stay up the week before, Geoff Toovey's troops threw another spanner in the works for fellow strugglers desperately trying to avoid following them out of the Championship trapdoor.

In another volatile encounter with Swinton, which seems to have become the norm when these two sides meet, this time it was Bradford who had the edge physically.

A bad-tempered affair was littered with 32 penalties and two yellow cards as Josh Barlow off Swinton and Damian Sironen for the Bulls were sin-binned late in the game.

Things threatened to spill over on numerous occasions but the important thing for the Bulls was they refused to be bullied and, despite suffering injury blows to Oscar Thomas and Colton Roche, they were worthy winners after going clear in the second half.

The Bulls returned to Heywood Road – home of rugby union club Sale FC, where Swinton play their matches – still with things to play for.

The landmark defeat to the Lions a month ago, which saw Stuart Littler's side beat Bradford for the first time since 1985 and gain a first victory at Odsal since 1957, no doubt still rankled.

Relegation may be confirmed but players are playing for contracts – whether it be full-time or part-time with the Bulls or at clubs elsewhere. The hardcore fans who made the trip over the Pennines certainly deserved to see their team giving their all.

Though the numbers were not as big those who witnessed the club's first win of the season at the venue back in February, they made themselves heard and made the most of the Bulls achieving consecutive league wins for the first time in nearly five months.

The visitors got off to the worst possible start when powerful play by Andy Bracek saw him pierce through the defence, delivering a big hit on James Bentley on his way to the line. Chris Hankinson added the extras and Swinton were off to a flier.

It looked as if they might increase that lead when a good cross-field move saw the ball farmed out to Shaun Robinson on the left wing. However, a crunching tackle from Johnny Campbell saw him bundled into touch, much to the delight of Bulls fans in the main stand.

A handling error close to the Swinton line prevented an opening try for Bradford, who again went close when Roche was held up just before the line under the sticks.

The game was becoming heated as loose forward Barlow and counterpart Sironen had their first round of 'afters', following a challenge from Thomas, and then Bentley was on the end of a high tackle.

The youngster showed why St Helens have snapped him up for next season when he scored the Bulls' first try after 21 minutes.

A combination of dancing feet and a strong left arm saw the second row go over in the Lions' left-hand corner. Unfortunately for the Bulls, Cory Aston pulled his conversion effort wide.

Yet five minutes later they were in front thanks to some fantastic power play from Sironen. He burst down the centre just inside the home half but it looked like he would be stopped by a clutch of defending Lions.

But they could not pin down the bullocking forward and the Australian found himself still on the charge deep inside Swinton territory.

The ball was worked wide on the left for Vila Halafihi to touch down in the corner and put the Bulls ahead, Aston making no mistake with the kick this time.

It looked like Swinton would make a swift response when Robinson broke clear but Campbell – who was certainly making up for his early dismissal when the sides met a month ago – came to the rescue again with another fantastic tackle which put the winger into touch again with the line beckoning.

The Bulls were showing commendable resolve and kept the Lions attack at bay for four sets of six.

But they conceded right on the brink of half-time when, after Aston had skewed a drop-goal attempt horribly wide, Thomas Coyle put Robinson in and it was third time lucky for the wideman.

At 10-10, the half was finally brought to an end after 55 minutes – and the second period was equally drawn out as the penalty count rose and the teams continued to mix it with each other.

Mikolaj Oledzki was given a talking to by the referee after squaring up with Adam Jones. The big Pole was clearly fired up and minutes later he put Bulls in front again.

After good work from Ross Peltier, Sam Hallas played in the Rhinos youngster, who would not be denied as he stretched over the line and Aston had the simple task of adding the extras to put the Bulls six points in front again.

Aston forced a knock-on on Swinton's 40-metre line, which led to another flare-up. The Bulls drove forward through that man Sironen before Hallas dived over the whitewash from dummy half to increase his side's lead.

Aston kicked the extras to put Bradford in control again but they were put on a team warning after getting on the wrong side of referee Andy Sweet again.

Soon afterwards Luke Waterworth put the Lions back in the game with a try, Izaac Farrell getting away with a mishit conversion attempt which just made it over the bar.

Aston's radar was off again with a penalty effort but the Bulls restored their advantage when a great offload from Sironen saw the Leeds loanee take the play on before Bentley touched down for his second try of the match.

This time Aston made the kick and then his penalty extended the lead to 30-16 and it was game, set and match.

Yet there was still time for both Barlow and Sironen to receive yellow cards. Barlow's came after a professional foul on Halafihi and Sironen, who had been lucky to escape prior punishment, went for a late challenge on Huddersfield loan player Farrell.

It took the edge of what had been another fine performance from the Australian but it certainly did not spoil the Bulls fans' day out, who were celebrating on the road for the second successive week.