BULLS 38 DONCASTER 4

THE Bulls cruised to a fifth win in six games as Doncaster were convincingly dispatched at Odsal.

Five first-half tries – three of them in a five-minute burst – settled the contest in the sizzling heat and strengthened their hold on a play-off spot.

Tom Holmes made his 150th career appearance but newest recruit Franklin Pele was only on a watching brief after the Bulls snapped him up following his Hull exit. Sam Hallas started at loose forward after his impressive return against Whitehaven.

Bulls and Doncaster had not been regular opponents down the years but it was a fixture that looked very much a home banker if history was anything to go by.

Bradford had won the last 11 meetings between the teams dating back to Doncaster’s victory 51 years ago. You had to go back to September 1963 at the height of Beatlemania for the last time Doncaster succeeded at Odsal.

The Bulls required an early reshuffle when Lee Gaskell landed heavily in a tackle and went off rubbing the back of his knee. Tyran Ott was pressed into immediate action.

It was a scrappy start with Hallas and Holmes both dropping the ball with their side in scoring positions.

Tom Halliday was pinned behind the line as Bulls forced a goalline drop-out – and the home side struck from the resulting powerplay as John Davies barged his way over for an 11th minute opener.

It was his first try for the club and Davies was denied a quickfire second with a last-tackle grab just short of the line.

Doncaster responded as Ben Johnston tried to sneak in from dummy half. He was thwarted in the nick of time – as was Pauli Pauli’s attempt to bulldoze his way through.

Most of the play, though, remained at the other end where the Bulls probed to increase their advantage.

They got the second try on 24 minutes as Mitch Souter spotted a hole from dummy half to burrow in by the posts – and the floodgates burst open.

The Aussie was inches away from repeating the trick after Doncaster’s ensuing kick-off flew out on the full.

Davies was enjoying himself and carved more space as the Bulls attacked again. Jordan Lilley bounced a kick towards the corner where Kieran Gill pounced for try number three.

The stand-in skipper then engineered a fourth with a kick right on the button to the right wing where Jayden Okunbor hovered above the blue shirts to claim and touch down.

It was all Bulls as a four-man tackle dragged Craig Hall 15 metres back behind his own line. Again, the home side made it count with Holmes producing a sublime sidestep on the way to strolling in to score.

Three tries in five minutes had blown the game apart and Doncaster’s frustration spilled over with a bit of afters as the hooter sounded.

The Bulls carried on where they left off to start the second half with another GLDO. They were hungry and sharp in their play and Souter was close to adding his second.

Try number six duly arrived seven minutes in, Souter setting up Keven Appo to crash over under the posts.

Doncaster got on the board – their first score in over two hours of trying after last week’s blow-out in Toulouse – through winger Tom Halliday.

But they were then reduced to 12 men with Joe Lovodua sin-binned for a tip tackle on Holmes.

Ironically, the visitors enjoyed their best attacking spell despite the numerical disadvantage. Ilikaya Mafi should have done better from his break and Hall spilled possession inside the Bulls 10.

With the result in the bag, the Bulls had lost the zip from their earlier play and the crowd had gone flat with it.

But after 24 scoreless minutes, Lilley had the final say as he stretched to convert the Bulls’ seventh home try. That took him beyond 100 points for the season.

He was also the seventh different try scorer as the Bulls wrapped up their biggest Championship win.

BULLS: Holmes; Okunbor, Myers, Gill, Taufua; Gaskell, Lilley; Baldwinson, Souter, Rogers, Fulton, Davies, Hallas. Interchange: Scurr, Ott, Appo, Peposhi.

DONCASTER: Hall; Faraimo, Hey, Tali, Halliday; Johnston, Robinson; Pauli, Lovodua, Matagi, Sutcliffe, Ferres, Knowles. Interchange: Foster, Holdstock, Taulapapa, Mafi.

BULLS MAN OF MATCH: Mitch Souter.