Bulls result only tells half the story

After a stellar second half had sealed victory the previous week against Wigan, the Bulls did it in reverse at Warrington.

A superb first-half showing had raised hopes of an impressive, if unexpected, triumph against Super League’s second-placed side, until the good work was quickly undone after the break.

Put the first 40 minutes together with the second period of the Wigan game and you have a championship-calibre side but this only served as proof, if proof were needed, that Bradford are still not the finished article.

Despite defending for much of the opening spell, the Bulls had played with heart, resilience and patience to go in 8-6 up at the break, a lead that could have been even greater had they converted any of their three kicks at goal.

But the Wolves’ response was fierce. Powered by their monster pack, a string of chances were created and the outside backs were clinical in making the visitors pay.

Matt King and Ryan Atkins plundered two tries apiece as Warrington scored 27 unanswered second-half points. Ball was dropped and tackles were missed, making the absence of in-form back-rower Jamie Langley – a late omission due to sickness – even more glaring.

The magnitude of the task facing Bradford was laid out right from the start.

Hitting the ball up with power and purpose, the Wolves made good yards early on to push themselves firmly onto the front foot.

Throughout the first ten minutes, they put pressure on the Bulls’ try-line, yet all their efforts were repelled.

In fact, it was Bradford who had the first clear chance to open the scoring when Ben Westwood offended 30 metres from his own line.

Matt Orford’s penalty kick caught the wind but still came within the breadth of a post from putting his side ahead, Warrington gratefully gobbling up possession when the ball rebounded back into play.

The boot of Bradford’s Aussie scrum half was once more central to proceedings when his bomb caused havoc in the Wolves’ defence and the Bulls went on the prowl. Elliott Whitehead collected and fed Nick Scruton but the defence did enough to hold him up as he went for the line.

Despite showing plenty of endeavour, the Bulls did themselves no favours with the ball.

A poor kick to touch from Paul Sykes and an Andy Lynch knock-on simply invited pressure, while three penalties in quick succession left the Bulls camped on their own line.

The Wolves had a fair slice of luck too as both Chris Hicks and King inexplicably escaped punishment after mid-air tackles on Stuart Reardon and Rikki Sheriffe respectively.

Bradford had everything but the kitchen sink lobbed in their direction but, to their credit, stood up tall in the face of the challenge, defending with unity and ferocity.

Their efforts deserved the highest reward and that’s exactly what they got when Lynch made amends for his earlier error.

Another Orford bomb was dropped by full back Chris Riley, allowing the Bulls to set up shop in front of the opposition try-line.

The score seemed inevitable and an incisive, angled break from Brett Kearney instilled panic in the Wolves defence before Lynch piled over from close range, although Orford missed the conversion.

Shocked into action, the Wolves provided a swift reply, just as Bradford appeared to have seen out yet another spell of heavy pressure.

Orford’s kick to touch looked to have provided respite but a break from Chris Riley quickly got Warrington back on the offensive.

A powerful carry from Adrian Morley, with men draped all over him, provided the platform before slack marker defence allowed Mickey Higham to snake out of dummy half.

Doing what he does best, Richie Myler followed Higham’s break right on the shoulder and was on hand to take the decisive pass before strolling in to score. Former Bradford centre Chris Bridge’s conversion edged the hosts ahead. But their lead didn’t last long.

Slightly over-eager against his former team, David Solomona conceded a penalty for a high shot and the Bulls sniffed their chance.

Initially, Warrington appeared to have defused the danger when Sykes was cleaned out by King with the line in sight.

The ball went loose but was snaffled by the quick-thinking Steve Menzies, who then sent a grubber kick straight at Riley, following up to bundle the young full back into touch.

Dusting himself off, Sykes hit Orford’s flat pass at pace to burst over from close range but couldn’t add the extras after assuming kicking duties from Orford.

At that point, the Bulls looked a real force to be reckoned with and not even the most pessimistic of souls could have predicted what happened next.

The second half actually started reasonably well and a 30-metre break from Kearney almost provided what could have been a decisive blow.

But it quickly went downhill from there, the Bulls proving their own worst enemies as a string of dropped passes, missed tackles and basic errors ensured both control and momentum were completely lost.

Typical that it was former Bull Solomona who sparked the rout, his superb cut-out pass catching the Bradford defence cold for King to send in Atkins, another player with Odsal experience.

Once in the lead, the Wolves proceeded to pile on the points.

Atkins turned provider as he broke down the left and fed Louis Anderson, the Kiwi back-rower bursting into space before providing King with the try-scoring pass.

Then, to rub salt in the Bulls’ wounds, they scored again straight from the restart. Aided by almost non-existent tackling, King made a dazzling 60-metre break and found Atkins in support to strike the killer blow, Bridge improving.

It was far too easy for Warrington hooker Monaghan as he snaked out of dummy half, leaving Mike Worrincy a spectator, to score his side’s fifth.

Bridge’s conversion and a Monaghan drop goal put the result beyond any kind of doubt before King beat Sheriffe to a crossfield kick from Monaghan to conclude the scoring.