Bradford Bulls score three quick tries to win York play-off

A blistering spell either side of half-time saw them come from behind to beat York 22-8 last night in their Betfred Championship play-off eliminator and set up a semi-final in Toulouse.

Win that, and Bulls will be just 80 minutes from the precious land that is Super League.

A bruising defeat in France during the regular season means Bradford head across The Channel as firm underdogs, but after beating in-form rivals London, Sheffield and York in their last three games, do not write them off.

Bulls started well enough last night at Odsal, against a side who had won 10 of their last 11 league games.

They won a six again close to the line after George Flanagan nearly broke through with a neat dummy, with the ball eventually worked to Tom Holmes, who floated a pass out to the wing for Ben Blackmore.

The winger went over in the corner in spectacular fashion, but that final pass was debatably ruled forward.

A spectacular early score for Ben Blackmore was ruled out, before York began to dominate. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

York slowly started to climb into the ascendancy thereafter, with Liam Harris and Will Jubb brought down on the line by solid Bulls defence.

Kieran Gill looked to have forced a knock on from Joe Brown seconds later, but he was penalised for offside, and Harris opted for the two in front of the posts to give his side the lead.

Bradford were giving away a raft of silly penalties, allowing Harris to kick to touch in dangerous positions.

And after a high tackle on halfway, York broke through for the first try of the evening.

Jesse Dee rampaged on to the ball from close range and looked to have been stopped, but he twisted his body in the tackle and managed to ground the ball while spinning.

The decision went to the video referee, but the score was eventually awarded, with Harris adding the extras.

With five minutes to go until half-time, Bulls’ prospects looked bleak, their attacking threat subsiding, but then they hit the Knights with a stunning double strike.

Keven Appo picked a great line from Jordan Lilley's pass, and though he was stopped, the ball was worked to Fenton Rogers on the next play, and he barrelled over from close range.

Fenton Rogers squeezes over the line to give Bulls a foothold in the game. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Lilley had a gimme in front of the posts and cut the gap to two points.

Rogers, along with Appo and Eribe Doro, was having a big impact off the bench, and the young Huddersfield prop played a role in Bulls’ second try moments later.

Lilley looked set to pass the ball to Rogers, but the latter made a smart dummy run to draw attention to himself, allowing Appo to charge on to the half-back’s pass and dive over the line.

Lilley’s conversion made the score 12-8, with Bulls turning things around in spectacular fashion right before the break.

And Bulls started the second half in a similar vein.

The superb Doro stormed up the field, virtually carrying defenders with him, and he offloaded to Lilley at the perfect time.

The scrum-half burst through, timed his pass to Tom Holmes perfectly, and the full-back cut a perfect diagonal line to slide over the whitewash.

Lilley was left with his third simple conversion of the night, putting Bulls 18-8 ahead.

Jordan Lilley enjoyed a perfect night from the kicking tee. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Gill had to be at his alert best to stop York hitting back from a cross-field kick, as the referee controversially allowed a tackle on Holmes in the air to go unpunished.

And while the centre knocked on after catching the ball, York made a mess of the scrum.

Other than that it was all Bulls, with AJ Wallace and Blackmore both having tries disallowed for forward passes, the latter one perhaps harshly ruled out.

Former Bull Brown was arguably York’s best player, but moments after he was beaten by Lee Gaskell’s excellent 40-20, Appo nearly crashed over for his second try.

Though he could not quite force the ball down, York were penalised for offside anyway.

Lilley landed another easy kick in front of the posts to put his side 20-8 in front.

Wallace was then clobbered by a high tackle as he tried to storm over from close range, with Lilley taking the two points on offer to edge his side further ahead.

The returning Jorge Taufua produced two monster hits on poor Danny Kirmond to stamp Bulls’ authority on the game even further late on.

One sad sight was Masi Matongo leaving the field late on with what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder, with he and Ebon Scurr (fractured hand) hugely unlikely to return until 2024 now.

But otherwise it was a night of a celebration, and after York messed up a chance in the corner just after the hooter, thoughts could finally turn to France for Bulls and their travelling army of fans.

Kieran Gill celebrates a fine victory with his young son at full-time. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

BULLS: Holmes, Blackmore, Arundel, Gill, Taufua, Gaskell, Lilley, Lawrence, Flanagan, Matongo, Wallace, Butler, Baitieri. Interchanges: Wynne, Appo, Rogers, Doro. 18th man: Barraclough.

YORK: Brown, Bass, Kirmond, Clarkson, Towse, Dee, Harris, Santi, Jubb, Ta’ai, Fitzsimmons, Field, Thompson. Interchanges: Pemberton, Michael, Pauli, Price.

BULLS MAN OF THE MATCH: Eribe Doro.