Cup of cheer whets appetite as Bulls reach semi-finals

TIME will tell whether Andrew Chalmers gets it spot on with his prediction that 2019 could be the year of the Bull.

But it’s safe to say that the Championship is shaping up to be a belter.

Gone are the lop-sided cricket scores that peppered promotion from League One. The Bulls know they will have to be on it week in, week out to hit the play-off target that has been set.

After finishing in the top four two years on the trot, Halifax are expected to once again provide a formidable challenge.

Chalmers had suggested the winners would go on to lift the reformed Yorkshire Cup in a fortnight.

The Bulls fans, though, have their eyes on a bigger prize if an early chant of “we’re on our way to the Super League” is anything to go by.

That may be a way off yet but this competitive friendly whetted the Odsal appetite for the fast-approaching campaign.

As promised, John Kear had virtually reversed his side from Boxing Day. Just under half of the 20 on duty today had played in the pre-season opener against York.

Odsal got its first glimpse of Jake Webster, Rhys Evans and Matty Wildie in Bulls colours while Ethan Ryan, Elliot Minchella and Joe Keyes were among those blowing away the cobwebs.

The likes of Jy Hitchcox, Ashley Gibson, Dane Chisholm and Connor Farrell were given the afternoon off.

On the back of Gregg McNally’s release, teenager Alix Stephenson made his first senior start at full back – an area which Kear will surely be looking at now to challenge Brandon Pickersgill.

Evans showed his tenacity to deny Halifax a fifth-minute opener, hauling down Stephen Tyrer on his back as the centre looked to cross.

Wildie looked to orchestrate the first home attack but Minchella was held up a metre short. George Milton also went close before the Bulls struck in familiar fashion.

Ryan demonstrated the athletic finishing skills that topped the scoring charts last season with another trademark dive in the corner from the pass by Stephenson. The winger just carried on from where he’d left off.

Fax were down to 12 in the 25th minute when former Bull Ben Kavanagh was yellow-carded for a late shot on Jordan Lilley. That sparked a bit of handbags with Webster.

The Bulls delivered the more painful blow as they took immediate advantage of the extra man, Keyes releasing Minchella to run in beneath the posts with the Ireland international tacking on the goal.

That numerical superiority was quickly wiped out as Lilley was sin-binned for a swinging arm at former Bull Kevin Larroyer. But aggressive defence kept Fax out – another flashback to 2018.

The visitors looked sloppy on attack and came up with handling errors that coaches will put down to their first outing of the year.

The Bulls should have extended their lead as half-time approached but having opened up Fax, Webster’s pass was too high for Stephenson to take in and he spilled the ball five metres out.

Instead, it was Halifax who struck back against the run of play just before the hooter when Tyrer finished Jordan Syme’s looping pass. Tyrer’s conversion cut the gap to 10-6 at half-time.

With the noisy away following roaring them on, Halifax almost scored again soon after the restart but Kavanagh could not get the ball down.

George Flanagan replaced the busy Wildie and wasted no time making his mark as he dived off from dummy half from Lilley’s quick play-the-ball under the posts.

Halifax saw yellow again when Ed Barber illegally blocked off Lilley from chasing his own kick into the left corner.

The Bulls again cashed in with that man Flanagan throwing Fax off the scent with a show and go before burrowing in for his second try.

Pickersgill fluffed the subsequent kick-off with his first touch on the field. But again, the Bulls stood strong close to their line to keep the door shut.

Their increasingly impressive game continued with a fifth try, Minchella and Storton keeping the ball alive on the last tackle before Ross Oakes charged in.

Jacob Fairbank, whose uncle Karl was among the past Yorkshire Cup winners presented to the crowd at half-time, scored a second try for Halifax.

And that was followed by a superb individual effort from Chester Butler, who charged down Lilley’s kick before racing in from 80 metres away.

BULLS: Stephenson, Rickett, Evans, Webster, Ryan, Keyes, Lilley, Wilson, Wildie, Magrin, Storton, Minchella, Milton. Interchange: Pickersgill, Oakes, Foggin-Johnston, Green, Flanagan, O’Sullivan, Bustin.

HALIFAX: Laula-Togaga’e, Robinson, Tyrer, Butler, Sharp, Brook, Woodburn Hall, Fleming, Moore, Kidd, Larroyer, Barber, Fairbank. Interchange: Kaye, Cooper, Saltonstall, Kavanagh, Morris, Syme, Davies.

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