Bradford Bulls see off Swinton to reach 1895 Cup last four

THE “Bartercard Bulls” christened Odsal’s latest moniker by booking a semi-final slot in the 1895 Cup this afternoon.

A hard-fought win over Swinton set up a last-four home clash with Wakefield.

The Bulls had to barter with the visitors in a tense clash that was in the balance for long spells – but they deserved to go through.

Wembley is tantalisingly 80 minutes away, although they will have to topple the Championship promotion favourites to get there.

Lee Gaskell was a welcome sight back in the halves after his recent illness.

Eamon O’Carroll also handed debuts to loan captures Keanen Brand at centre and hooker Corey Johnson, who was returning for a third spell at the club.

The fourth change from the Challenge Cup loss to Widnes saw Dan Smith come in for his 200th career appearance.

Swinton’s line-up obviously included an in-form Dec Patton with a point to prove after his Odsal exit.

The playmaker’s 44-game stint for the Bulls ended suddenly with no appearances beyond July last year and he returned clearly fired up to show his old club what he was capable of. He was booed by the Bulls fans every time he got on the ball.

After the pitch issues across the city at Valley Parade on Saturday, it was good to see a surface with some green on it. Hats off to the army of volunteers who had worked hard on it in advance.

The Bulls needed just six minutes to get on the board as Swinton were made to pay for knocking on near halfway.

Smith was held up short but Chester Butler squirmed his way in by the right of the posts.

They were forced into a reshuffle on 14 minutes after Aidan McGowan had to go off for a head assessment after taking a whack fielding a high kick. Brand switched to full back in his absence.

It was a relatively quiet first quarter, barring the constant boos for Patton, with both sides feeling each other out.

Patton tried to get Swinton going with an attempted 40/20 but it fell short to more stick from the crowd.

Gaskell looked to be blocked off as Bulls threatened again but the referee saw nothing wrong.

The Patton circus continued with a scramble from his chip towards the Bulls line given the home side’s way for a hit off the ball. He voiced his disapproval to the touch judge.

Jayden Myers carried the ball inside the Swinton 10 but defences remained on top from both teams with few clear-cut scoring chances.

George Roby had Swinton’s first proper sight of the line midway through the half but was held up under the posts.

Tempers were starting to rise and both sides squared up after Arundel was sin-binned for deliberately obstructing Jayden Hatton.

Keanan Brand made his Bulls debut on loan from Leigh (Image: Tom Pearson)

But McGowan was back on the field and instantly into it on a menacing break with Jorge Taufau.

Keven Appo thought he had sent Kieran Gill into the corner but the play was pulled back for a forward pass.

With all the fans housed in the main stand, there was a decent atmosphere as the game continued to liven up.

Jordan Lilley gave them something to cheer when he spotted the space to land an angled drop-goal and give the 12-man Bulls a two-score advantage six minutes before the interval.

But Swinton hit back quickly after Gill knocked on trying to intercept near his own line. Jake Spedding burst in from the set-play with Patton shrugging off the cat-calls to cut the deficit.

There was still time for the Bulls to have the last say of the half as Lilley slotted a simple penalty to make it a narrow 9-6 lead.

It was another tight contest between the sides – as it usually is – and Swinton held up Johnson over the line as the Bulls looked for some daylight early in the second half.

But it was a good spell of concerted home pressure and back-to-back scrums were finally rewarded as Lilley dropped the shoulder to wriggle over the line. He then improved the lead to 15-6.

Solid defence prevented Roby from registering a quick response and Taufau fielded a kind bounce from Patton’s dangerous grubber in front of the Bulls line.

Swinton pressured again from successive penalties but the white wall held strong with Brand making a crucial diving catch on the last tackle.

Brand then nearly scored at the other end after Johnson burst through on the break.

But Swinton got back in it through full back Dan Abram’s try – Patton’s conversion making it a nervy last 10 minutes.

The Bulls, though, weren’t to be denied and made sure when Gill hoovered up Lilley’s dink through from their final attack.

BULLS: McGowan; Myers, Brand, Gill, Taufau; Gaskell, Lilley; Lawrence, Johnson, Smith, Butler, Arundel, Davies. Interchange: Flanagan, Appo, Hallas, Okoro.

SWINTON: Abram; Chrimes, Spedding, Hatton, Williams; Patton, Gibson; Wood, Eaves, Bennion, Rodden, Cox, Hall. Interchange: Roby, Cooper, Fletcher, Badrock.