BULLS 48 DEWSBURY 6

THREE tries scored with 12 men powered the Bulls towards an ultimately comfortable victory over struggling Dewsbury at Odsal.

Ryan Millar’s sin-binning left the home side a man down with the scores level coming up to half-time – but they struck three times in a five-minute burst either side of the hooter.

Chester Butler went over twice in that time to blow open a previously tight contest as the Bulls never looked back. It was their fourth win in five to stay on the heels of the play-off pack.

Jordan Lilley returned after missing Sheffield through illness and there were also recalls for AJ Wallace and Matty Dawson-Jones, who had scored two tries against the Rams on opening day.

The Bulls’ recent landlords came into the fixture just as desperate for the points but for very different reasons.

Dewsbury are stuck in the Championship relegation zone on the back of seven straight losses – making it a tough first gig for new coach Liam Fynn following Lee Greenwood’s sacking.

Paul Sykes is still going strong at 40 – now his shirt number – and he nearly created the first scoring chance with a shallow, swirling kick that Dewsbury reclaimed. The Bulls’ defence were briefly caught out but recovered their senses in time to thwart a five-man assault.

Dawson-Jones was forced off early on after taking a knock in the first defensive set. But the home side drew first blood on 10 minutes as Dec Patton’s looping pass was downed in the corner by Millar.

It was the winger’s sixth try of the season – but his first one at Odsal. Patton then improved with a clubbing conversion from the touchline.

Steve Crossley was held up on the line as the Bulls hunted a follow-up. But Sykes turned the tables with a booming 40/20 kick in reply – only for Bayley Gill, one of three new faces drafted into the Dewsbury line-up, to knock on and kill the Dewsbury opportunity.

Former Bull Matty Garside’s stab to the in-goal had Millar in some discomfort when it suddenly reared up as the visitors pushed for a levelling score.

The pressure finally paid off in the 26th minute as winger Andy Gabriel nipped past a static defence to score on the left.

Odsal had felt flat up to that point and the home side were struggling to build any momentum at that point.

Millar’s mixed afternoon continued when he was yellow-carded for petulantly kicking the ball away after it ran into touch, leaving the Bulls a man short heading to the break.

But the numerical disadvantage proved no problem whatsoever for his team who struck twice before the hooter as their opponents tired.

After Lilley forced the first goalline drop-out, Ant Walker took them within striking range for Elliot Kear to score from Patton’s precise pass.

And a free-flowing move on the right then set up Butler to dart through a gap and race away under the posts.

Dewsbury were suddenly staring down the barrel of another defeat - and it soon got worse.

Millar was still off for the start of the second half – but again the depleted Bulls struck as Butler stretched low through a crowd of defenders for his second try.

The Bulls were firmly in command now and top scorer Kieran Gill got in on the act and claimed his 13th touchdown from Patton’s grubber kick.

Steve Crossley then provided the most popular try of the afternoon, picking his way through to the posts, with Patton maintaining his perfect afternoon with the boot.

And fellow pivot Lilley got his name on the scoring sheet in the closing minutes when he spotted a gap to dart in from close range.

The second-half fun was still not done for the Bulls, though.

Samy Kibula, the early replacement for the unfortunate Dawson-Jones, was thrown a Dewsbury pass straight into his lap and he gleefully accepted the gift to rumble down the right wing for the eighth try.

Patton maintained his perfect day with the boot to make it 42 unanswered points as the Bulls cruised to the win. Leaders Leigh, next Sunday at Odsal, will be very different.

BULLS: Kear; Foggin-Johnston, Dawson-Jones, K Gill, Millar; Patton, Lilley; Scurr, Doyle, Crossley, Butler, Wallace, Hallas. Interchange: Flanagan, Baldwinson, Kibula, A Walker.

DEWSBURY: Turner; Blackmore, Dixon, Ryder, Gabriel; Sykes, B Gill; Beckett, Butterworth, Kidd, Garside, Knowles, Blagborough. Interchange: Speakman, Schofield, Kirby, J Walker.