Bradford Bulls bounce back impressively to win at Whitehaven

Already 12-6 down just before the break, a phenomenal recovery tackle by Sam Hallas on Owen McCarron stopped a certain try, despite furious protests from the hosts that their man had grounded the ball.

That proved to be the turning point, as Bradford showed their class after the break, running in five tries to record a comfortable enough victory, when it had looked like being anything but 40 minutes in.

Bulls made the more threatening start to the game, with the returning Dan Smith stopped inches short, then knocking on as he tried to set the ball back, before Keven Appo broke the line but made the wrong decision to try and kick through.

Instead, it was Haven who went ahead, with Joey Romeo doing superbly to retrieve Lee Gaskell’s kick behind his own posts and fly up the field.

Tom Holmes dragged him down, but not before he managed to release Jake Maizen.

The full back did the rest from fully 70 metres out, getting past a stumbling Mitch Souter, then a despairing lunge from Jayden Okunbor, to score a glorious breakaway try.

Jake Carter slid the subsequent conversion attempt just inside the posts for 6-0.

The hosts nearly grabbed a second try instantly, as Holmes dropped a booming high kick under ferocious pressure, only for Connor Holliday to drop the loose ball when a clean gather would have led to a try.

But Holliday soon made up for that in fortunate circumstances.

A little dink through from close range hit Jordan Lilley on the head and bounced up perfectly for a try for the Haven second row.

Carter improved Holliday’s try and Bradford were in something of a hole at 12-0 down.

Bulls crucially halved the deficit just under 10 minutes before the break.

Ebon Scurr, excellent alongside Fenton Rogers after coming on, and Gaskell made some good ground, before Souter found a gap to burrow through before stretching out to score in the tackle, Lilley adding the extras.

Then came the key moment in the game, as the hitherto-rusty Hallas, back from a long lay-off with ankle tendonitis, had to race back after a Lilley kick was charged down on the halfway line.

McCarron latched on to it and looked to be in for a simple try, yet Hallas chased him down and grabbed his fellow back rower as he slid over the line.

Hallas somehow managed to twist McCarron round in doing so, and according to the referee, held him up.

Bradford levelled early in the second half with an opportunistic try.

Gaskell's kick through initially looked wasteful, but then Lilley flew across in a blur to parry it backwards.

Jordan Lilley had a major impact on the second half, starting with a brilliant flick to set up the converted try that brought his side level. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

It landed perfectly back in the hands of the onrushing Gaskell, who got over to score, Lilley’s easy conversion making it 12-12.

Bulls soon hit the front, as they worked the ball nicely from right to left, with Taufua going in at the corner as the man over.

Kieran Gill offloaded it to the Australian, and he was floored by a reckless tackle from Gebbie as he did so, meaning Haven’s misery was compounded by a yellow card for their winger.

After the sin-binning, Lilley landed a brilliant touchline conversion to put his side 18-12 ahead.

Bulls were cooking with gas at this point and when Gaskell clipped the ball behind into miles of space, Gill, still struggling after landing awkwardly on his shoulder after Gebbie’s tackle, was able to let the ball bounce and then gather it for a simple score.

Lilley’s conversion put Bradford 24-12 ahead, but they faced a nervy 10 minutes after Rogers was sent to the sin-bin for dazing his man in the tackle, even though it looked to be an accidental head on hip collision.

But Bradford were still looking good with 12 men, and went on to score their best try of the match.

Holmes cut a great jinking line through, before feeding Jayden Myers, who danced past the defence and did superbly to get over himself in the right corner.

Tom Holmes looked increasingly assured as the game wore on, and he played a big hand in Bulls' penultimate try. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Haven had one last blast left in them and despite losing possession in the tackle, the referee deemed there to be no knock on, with Romeo scooping up the loose ball and flopping over the line to score.

Carter added the extras to haul his side back to just 30-18 behind, but Lilley put the game to bed with five minutes to go.

Holmes was clipped round the neck 20 metres out, allowing the little half-back to slot over an easy penalty to put his side three scores in front.

And Bulls finished the game off in style, as Lilley’s lovely miss pass flew over the heads of Whitehaven’s defenders, allowing Taufua to crash over in the corner despite a despairing last-ditch tackle.

Lilley’s conversion just flew off target from the left, ending his perfect afternoon from the tee, but it was a minor negative amid what was a fine recovery job after the break.

WHITEHAVEN: Maizen, Gebbie, Corkill, Teare, Romeo, Carter, Hanneghan, Castle, Newton, Ainley, McCarron, Holliday, King, Interchanges: Doran, Worthington, Hindmarsh.

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

BULLS MAN OF THE MATCH: LEE GASKELL