Bradford Bulls in ten-try rampage at home to Whitehaven

The visitors only had a 16-man squad, which represented a challenge in a very sunny West Yorkshire.

Bradford welcomed back captain Michael Lawrence to the starting lineup in a huge boost to Eamon O’Carroll’s side.

Michael Lawrence back in action today (Image: Tom Pearson)

The hosts started sharply and, fresh from signing his new contract, Jayden Okunbor got the ball rolling for the Bulls.

Jarrod Sammut’s grubber kick was taken gratefully by the powerful winger, and he made no mistake in finishing the chance off. 

Lilley converted brilliantly from the touchline to send the home side into a 6-0 lead.

Jayden Okunbor celebrates his try (Image: Tom Pearson)

And the Bulls doubled their lead in the 14th minute through Keven Appo.

He was given a short ball to bully his way over, and Lilley added the extras.

Seven minutes later Jarrod Sammut was the next Bulls player to get in on the act.

Scoring his 200th career try, the mercurial half-back danced his way over after evading several Whitehaven challenges.

Things got better for the Bulls on minute 28, as Eribe Doro marked his return to the starting lineup with a bang; quite literally.

In typical Doro fashion, he used his power to bounce off a couple of the visiting pack to touch down. 

Lilley added the conversion once again. 

The hosts added two more tries before the interval with Jayden Myers and Harvey Makin going over to extend Bradford’s lead.

After some great work by Okunbor, in which he juggled the ball magnificently to keep the attack alive, the winger played through Myers to dart over the line.

And Makin, shortly after, powered his way across the whitewash to score a converted try as the Bulls went into the break 34-0 ahead.

It didn't take long for the home side to extend their lead, as Makin went over for his second try of the afternoon six minutes after the break.

In a similar fashion to his first effort, the Wigan loanee aware abruised his way beyond a handful of Whitehaven tackle attempts, before putting the ball down.

Lilley added the conversion to put Bradford 40-0 ahead.

In the 50th minute Franklin Pele got on the scoresheet to get a try that his performance certainly deserved.

The powerhouse collected the ball before setting off on a barnstorming run.

He brought two players along with him, as he added yet another try for the hosts.

Lilley converted to make it 46-0.

Franklin Pele powers his way over for a try (Image: Tom Pearson)

There was still time for the Bulls to add a further two tries to their tally, taking the count up to ten in the process.

The first came through Jorge Taufua who was found brilliantly by Lilley via Max Lehmann.

Bradford’s half-back played a defence-splitting pass to Lehmann, who unselfishly fed the Bulls winger to score try number nine.

Lilley, once more, added the extras from out wide to confirm another two points for the home side.

The scoring was rounded off with five minutes of the contest remaining.

Appo, who received Man of the Match, battled his way over for the Bulls’ tenth effort of the match.

Lilley converted the try to round off a fantastic afternoon for O’Carroll’s side in the Odsal sun.

Up next for Bradford is the visit of fierce rivals, Featherstone Rovers as they look to do the double over the Millennium Stadium outfit.