Bradford Bulls lose deservedly to the Widnes Vikings

From a position of strength, at 12-6 up following a couple of well-worked tries, they threw the game away, and while there were perhaps some questionable decisions from referee James Vella, they only had themselves to blame for the defeat.

It was a performance out of keeping with Bulls’ displays under Lee Greenwood and Brian Noble so far, and with the team more packed out with big names than it has been in years, Jason Baitieri the latest to make his debut last night, it was alarming to see them produce such a Monday night fright.

Jason Baitieri made his first appearance, though the game did not go to plan. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Bulls started badly and conceded an ugly try on five minutes.

Joe Arundel initially made a good tackle on the breaking Kieran Dixon, but after Joe Lyons kicked through, Ben Blackmore got himself in a tangle.

He tried and failed to get the ball back to Connor Wynne, with Matty Fozard picking the loose ball up and strolling over the line.

Tom Gilmore swept the ball over from the left to put Widnes 6-0 up.

But Bulls were soon level, as halves Lee Gaskell and Dec Patton worked it between them nicely, with the latter timing his past perfectly to Chester Butler, who burst through the Widnes line to slide over in the corner.

Chester Butler gallops away to score, on a night that started quite brightly for the visitors. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Patton converted that well from the left and was to the fore again to help Bradford into the lead.

He assessed his options then clipped a lovely grubber through to Kieran Gill, who found the gap between two defenders and calmly touched the ball down before it ran behind the in-goal area.

Widnes went close, but Joe Edge blew the final pass to Ollie Brookes by throwing it behind him, but then Patton conceded a set restart for laying on the ball in the tackle.

And Widnes did not waste that second chance, as they stayed patient and worked the ball left for Kieran Dixon to go over in the corner, with Edge slamming over a fine kick from the touchline to level proceedings.

A sensational tackle from Blackmore stopped Dixon from scoring in the corner from Joe Lyons' brilliant kick across, as the Bulls winger somehow bundled his man out of play as he stretched for the line.

But Widnes did retake the lead just before half-time, in controversial circumstances.

The officials appeared to miss a clear knock on from Widnes, and the hosts were instead handed a six again.

Though Bulls appeared to initially survive with just a goal-line drop out, Widnes came back and Gaskell was sin-binned for a high tackle on Lyons, even though the Vikings man appeared to be slipping over.

The normally mild-mannered Michael Lawrence was furious with the referee over Lee Gaskell's yellow card. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

That was Bulls’ seventh and final penalty concession of the half, and the punishment did not end with the yellow card, as Edge cracked over the two points on the hooter to give Widnes a 14-12 lead.

That chaos continued early in the second half.

After Jorge Taufua produced a monster hit, Vella deemed it too much and gave Widnes a penalty, to the disgust of the Bradford fans.

From that set, Vella awarded former Bulls man Ant Walker a try when he bundled over, only for the touch judge to rule he was held up.

Bulls then nearly scored themselves with 12 men, only for Patton’s looping miss pass to die on Taufua out on the left, who could not reel the ball in in acres of space.

With Gaskell back in the fold, Patton then landed a penalty to level proceedings as Widnes were penalised for offside.

But the Bulls half-back immediately coughed up a knock on from the kick-off.

Dec Patton had some bright moments in attack but some sloppy ones in defence. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

That soft error proved costly, as Widnes attacked from the scrum and showed good hands on the left.

Dixon received the ball on the left wing, slipped inside Gaskell and crashed over for the try.

Edge’s kick at goal drifted just wide but he soon had a simple two points to add to his tally, as Connor Wynne was penalised for not playing the ball properly right in front of his own posts.

Blackmore dived over in the corner from Gaskell’s clever low kick across and thought he had brought Bulls right back into the game, but the referee ruled that the winger had failed to ground the ball.

And Blackmore then played a hospital pass to Gaskell, who was forced behind his own goal.

Bulls failed to fully get out from that, allowing Gilmore to slot home an easy drop goal.

AJ Wallace was soon penalised for an illegal ball steal as Sam Wilde broke away, and from that penalty, Adam Lawton simply used his power to bundle over by the foot of the posts.

Gilmore caught out the Bulls defence with a few moments to go with a long pass out to Brookes, who flew over in the corner to make the score 31-14 to his side.

On a chastening night for Bulls, Ebon Scurr was perhaps one of the only players to emerge with any sort of credit in the bank after some strong runs and tackles. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Edge missed the tricky conversion attempt, but it was his side who had that sharpness about them on the night, as they deservedly beat the Bulls.

Bradford are now just three points ahead of seventh, so could really do with a win at Whitehaven on Sunday to keep their play-off hopes firmly on track.

WIDNES: Edge, Dixon, Roberts, Fleming, Brookes, Lyons, Gilmore, Field, Fozard, Lawton, Wilde, Grady, Davies. Interchanges: Forber, Walker, Telleke, Farnworth. 18th man: Holroyd.

BRADFORD: Wynne, Blackmore, Arundel, Gill, Taufua, Gaskell, Patton, Matongo, Lilley, Lawrence, Wallace, Butler, Foster. Interchanges: Segeyaro, Appo, Baitieri, Scurr. 18th man: Jowitt.

BULLS MAN OF THE MATCH: Scurr.