Harlequins 35 Bulls 18

 Union die-hards call Twickenham ‘the home of rugby’ and home is exactly where the Bulls appeared to have left their rugby as they crashed to an eighth straight defeat.

Where London had been a launchpad for a late-season surge last year, this time it appeared to be some kind of cruel purgatory.

Bradford’s fate is not yet sealed – and they could still make the Super League play-offs – but they showed few signs of recovery in capitulating to a 35-18 defeat at Harlequins.

They found themselves drowned by a flood of poor decisions and errors, while the hosts took full advantage, playing with a buzz and effervescence that belied their low league position.

The current malaise is proving far more difficult to shake than anyone could ever have imagined and time is running out for them to avoid the ignominy of missing out on the post-season for the second year running.

Sweltering temperatures in London promised to make life difficult for the players but both sides attempted to start at a quick pace.

Initially, it was Quins who coped best, the Bulls making back-to-back handling errors while trying to escape their half and paying the price.

Luke Gale took on the line and a well-timed pass sent Luke Dorn bursting through to open the scoring, the try improved by Danny Orr.

It quickly got worse.

Showing absolutely no fear, the hosts ran the ball from deep inside their own half, Jamie O’Callaghan’s break putting them firmly on the front foot.

Moving the ball from side to side, they got lucky with a couple of dropped balls, neither judged knock-ons, before Gale picked up possession on the right, stepped inside a string of tackles and laid the chance on a platter for Andy Ellis with a superb off-load.

Orr’s second conversion had the Bulls staring at a shock 12-point deficit.

Undeterred, Bradford continued to play the percentage game and really should have taken advantage of a great opportunity when O’Callaghan dropped a bomb from Paul Sykes to hand them consecutive sets in the opposition half.

Craig Kopczak came agonisingly close to making the breakthrough but a string of unambitious one-man drives failed to yield anything and disaster struck on the final tackle.

Sykes had his grubber kick easily picked off by Dorn and the Aussie broke 60 metres before finding Ben Jones-Bishop in acres of space on his shoulder.

The on-loan Leeds youngster strolled in a third try of the evening and Orr added the extras.

Needing a spark to alleviate the gloom, the Bulls got it from a familiar source.

Roaming all the way across the line, Brett Kearney waited and waited for his chance before darting in and timing a neat off-load out of the tackle to Elliott Whitehead for the try. Sykes added the conversion and the Bulls were belatedly up and running.

But chances were wasted in the bid to further close the gap as Dave Halley was squeezed into touch when Kearney and Steve Menzies spread play wide, while Danny Addy chose a bad option in driving to the line and ultimately losing possession.

Unsurprisingly, Bradford paid the penalty when Menzies was punished for dissent and Orr kicked his fourth goal to make it 20-6.

Further embarrassment was avoided when Mike Worrincy intercepted a pass from Dorn to halt a heart-stopping moment.

Yet the second-rower then proceeded to fumble at the play-the-ball, handing possession back to Quins and allowing Gale to slot a drop goal on the stroke of half-time.

Changes came after the break, with Heath L’Estrange coming in at scrum half, allowing Sykes to move to his more familiar position of stand-off.

Given the chance to support the runner more often, Sykes was the beneficiary of some outstanding work by Kopczak to put the Bulls right back into contention.

Picking up the ball just inside the opposition 40-metre line, Kopczak accelerated impressively and stepped through a gap to break clear and provide his stand-off with the decisive pass.

Sykes stepped up to kick the simple conversion but failed to really make Quins pay when he dropped the ball following a carbon-copy break from Kopczak soon after.

And rather than build on that boost, the Bulls seemed to lose their heads for a mad five-minute spell and the hosts re-established a 15-point cushion.

A string of penalties were conceded, causing Richard Silverwood to speak to acting captain Menzies twice in quick succession, and Quins gathered enough momentum for Jones-Bishop to cut an angled line in from the left and touch down, Orr improving.

Bradford’s brinkmanship cost them further when Menzies was sent to the sin-bin with 15 minutes remaining for persistent offences and Orr capitalised by kicking the penalty.

Another Orr penalty followed minutes later to virtually make the game safe and, if there was still any doubt whatsoever, Chris Melling soon eradicated that, scoring on the left following a good break from Will Sharp.

A late consolation will have proved more meaningful for Steve Crossley than for the Bulls, the rookie prop crashing over off the pass from L’Estrange for the first try of his fledgling senior career.