Bradford Bulls see off Dewsbury Rams with ease in 1895 Cup

A combination of slick play from the visitors, and a home side who looked to have turned up without any sort of attacking and defensive plan, meant Bradford were already 28 points in front by the break.

It was not vintage Bulls after the interval, but they added two further tries to put the cherry on top of a very satisfying cake.

It was not all good news for Bulls though, who lost Ben Blackmore (leg) and Ebon Scurr (knee) to injury, both as a result of poor tackles from the hosts.

Head coach Eamon O’Carroll admitted afterwards the pair would need assessing before he could give any indication of how long they would be out for.

Scurr’s injury led to a yellow card for George Flanagan, who had got caught up in a scuffle protecting his pal in the front row.

But beyond the above, there was little for O’Carroll to complain about, as they set about putting the Rams to the sword.

Despite Michael Lawrence and Billy Jowitt both missing out with minor back injuries and Dan Smith sitting out through illness, Bulls did not appear badly affected by their growing list of absentees.

They went ahead inside five minutes when Mitch Souter drove at the line and flicked the ball to John Davies, who then passed it on to Jordan Lilley.

The Bradford scrum half burst through some weak defending and fed Kieran Gill to his left, who flew over the whitewash for the opening score.

Davies had to hold Lilley’s conversion attempt in place due to the swirling wind, and that perhaps played on the half back’s mind as he belted a poor kick wide to the left of the posts.

The Rams conceded a penalty after a poor, illegal tackle below the knee from Ronan Dixon which hurt Blackmore, causing both to leave the field, the Dewsbury man with a yellow card, the Bradford winger with an injured leg.

Joe Arundel came on at centre, with Jayden Myers shifted out to the wing, and the former made Dewsbury pay for their misdemeanour instantly.

Bulls shunted the ball out wide to the right and the former Halifax star had space to drive into.

He threatened to feed Myers out wide, but sold a dummy and was able to crash over in the corner himself.

Joe Arundel goes in to score just moments after coming on from the interchange bench. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

A hard and flat kick from Lilley out on the touchline came close to going over the posts, but went just wide.

Bulls got their third try when what looked like a knock on by Souter was deemed as an illegal ball strip from Dewsbury.

The away side took full advantage, and a stunning flat pass by the Australian hooker five metres out whizzed into the hands of Scurr, who flopped over the line to score, leaving Lilley with an easy conversion to open his account.

The game was becoming increasingly ugly for Dewsbury when they let in a soft fourth try.

Bulls looked to have run out of road when the ball came to Myers on the wing, but he bounced off a tackle that was not strong enough, then burrowed his way over from close range before the Rams' defence could react.

Lilley subsequently swung over a fine kick from the right to put Bulls 20 points ahead.

Dewsbury finally got themselves on the scoreboard with a lovely try.

They worked the ball out to the left, and Brad Graham charged towards the line before flicking a brilliant pass out of the back of the hand to Perry Whiteley, who crashed over to score out wide.

Calum Turner was unlucky with his conversion attempt, which was on target but got held up in the wind and dropped short of the posts.

Bulls soon responded with their fifth try.

A Dewsbury man put in a poor tackle on Aidan McGowan but he managed to get the ball away to Gill, who flicked a pass to his left for Taufua.

The winger shimmied inside and cut a diagonal line to beat the defence and go over, with Lilley slotting the extras.

Terrible defending from the Rams saw them concede a sixth try, as they allowed Lee Gaskell to stroll through.

The veteran stand-off was tackled but just managed to get the ball away to the charging Souter, who slipped over for an easy score.

Lilley cracked the conversion over from the right to send his side into the break with a substantial 32-4 lead.

The first score of the second half came about 10 minutes after the restart, when Taufua showed his monstrous power on the left edge.

Quick hands saw Gill move the ball out to the wing and the Australian-born powerhouse put his head down and bulldozed his way over the line, with Lilley unable to add the extremely tricky extras from the touchline.

McGowan started and ended the move for Bulls’ eighth and final try.

He brilliantly kept the ball in play from a teasing, bouncing kick from the hosts, allowing Bradford to move their way up the field.

A clever high kick from Gaskell was claimed by Gill in the air, before a Lilley grubber through was clumsily knocked on.

Bulls took full advantage from the subsequent scrum, working it out to the right quickly, and in a two-on-one, McGowan feinted to pass, went himself and got Bulls into the forties with the score.

Lilley failed with his conversion attempt, and Bulls were unable to score again in the last 25 minutes of the game.

They also lost Flanagan to the bin and Scurr to his knee problem in those closing stages, but despite those setbacks, they fought hard and ensured they kept Dewsbury out.

Ebon Scurr had a mixed afternoon, starting, scoring but then going off injured. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Whiteley thought he was in for his second try of the game, but across came McGowan and Gill to make a sensational team tackle and bundle him into touch.

A messy move almost led to a visiting try, with Bulls inadvertently getting a hand to the ball to stop Dewsbury being penalised for a knock on.

The Rams scrambled the ball through with a couple of kicks, only for Taufua to fly across and hammer the ball out for a goal-line dropout.

A brilliant tackle from McGowan in the final minute brought down the flying Lewis Carr, who had escaped Davies’ clutches, as he looked set to run 80 metres and score.

That ensured Bulls kept their second half shutout intact, and they move on now to a likely winner takes all clash at Keighley Cougars in the final Group 2 game in a fortnight.

Whoever comes out on top in that derby will be guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals, the loser will almost certainly bow out of the competition, unless they take the one and only best runners-up spot in the last eight.

DEWSBURY: O’Connor, Whiteley, Greensmith, D. Dixon, Carr, Hookem, Turner, Beckett, C. Davies, R. Dixon, Graham, Dawson, Collinson. Interchanges: Sykes, Hird, Morris, Field. 18th man: Walker.

BULLS: McGowan, Blackmore, Myers, Gill, Taufua, Gaskell, Lilley, Doro, Souter, Scurr, J. Davies, Butler, Hallas. Interchanges: Okoro, Arundel, Appo, Flanagan. 18th man: Peposhi.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Aidan McGowan.