Bradford Bulls edge out Sheffield Eagles in play-off hunt

And with Widnes and Featherstone both losing this afternoon, the latter at lowly Swinton, third-placed Bradford all of a sudden look secure in the play-offs, and could book their spot with a home win over Batley next Sunday.

A hesitant Lee Gaskell allowed James Glover to reel in the Sheffield kick off, which meant the hosts almost went over from the first set.

But Tom Holmes and Zac Fulton did brilliantly to hold Cory Aston up over the line on the last.

And that paid off as Bradford edged in front, after referee Cameron Worsley penalised a high tackle on Fulton then a push on Eribe Doro.

From the second foul, Jordan Lilley took the simple two points.

Jayden Myers was then kept out on the line by three desperate defenders following a good move involving Fulton and Holmes.

There was a lengthy delay when Doro hurt his back after a tackle attempt on Aston, which eventually led to him being helped off the field and ruled out of the rest of the game.

Head coach Eamon O’Carroll confirmed after the game that the powerful forward had gone to hospital for a scan on his back, to determine the severity of the injury.

A nasty-looking injury for Eribe Doro early on threatened to ruin Bulls' afternoon. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Bradford bounced back from the blow of losing Doro quickly, going over for their first try.

Ebon Scurr blasted Bulls to within a couple of metres, and Sam Hallas finished the job off from close range, despite a hint of double movement, for a converted try.

Jesse Sene-Lefao and Vila Halafihi almost got over the line down the left, but the latter dropped the ball as he went to touch down, before Tyran Ott broke the line but botched the final pass that would have put Holmes in for a Bulls score.

Sheffield then made another error metres out from the Bulls line and this one proved fatal.

Aston flung a pass too high for Glover, who could only knock it straight into Jayden Okunbor's hands.

The big Bulls winger took full advantage, gleefully running nearly 100 metres up the right wing to score an intercept try, though Lilley pushed the conversion attempt just wide.

And Sheffield made it a one-score game on the half-hour mark.

Bulls failed to deal with Aston's kick to the right, as Jorge Taufua and Keven Appo were beaten in the air by Ryan Millar.

The winger palmed the ball back to Kris Welham, who fed Alex Foster for a try.

A resurgent Sheffield then blasted down the left through Matty Dawson-Jones, only for Holmes to put in a great last-man tackle to deny him, as Sheffield spent the closing stages of the half almost camped in Bulls territory.

And they thought they had given themselves a chance to level seconds before the break, as Dawson-Jones went over in the left corner, only for Sene-Lefao’s assist to him to be ruled forward.

For Sheffield, the hooter went at a bad time, and Bulls gained some control early in the second half through two barnstorming runs from Franklin Pele.

As usual, Franklin Pele proved a nightmare for the opposition to stop. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

One of those was ended by Foster holding on 30 metres out, and Lilley knocked over the subsequent penalty to put Bulls 14-6 in front.

But they went a man down when Myers appeared to awkwardly slip into a tackle, the subsequent dangerous contact leading to him being shown a yellow card by Worsley.

A ragged Bulls conceded a couple more penalties straight after that, and Pele had to produce a brilliant piece of defending to keep out Blake Broadbent by holding the ball up with his left arm.

Otherwise, Bulls dealt with their man disadvantage relatively comfortably, and soon it was Sheffield’s turn to lose a player.

Sene-Lefao went in high on the returning Myers, with Worsley deeming that one bad tackle too many from the Eagles second row, sending him to the bin.

And Bulls took advantage straight away to score their third try.

The powerful Appo burst the home line from close range, and he fed Romain Franco on his left, who crossed the whitewash before touching down under the posts, leaving Lilley with a simple conversion.

Keven Appo came up with a crucial assist in the second half to open up a tight game. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

To Sheffield’s credit, they fired back, and should have scored when Kyle Wood’s grubber deflected perfectly for Matty Marsh, only for him to lose the ball forward as he dived over the line.

The scrum half soon made amends, as he broke through on halfway after being fed by Aston and chipped beyond Holmes.

Taufua looked favourite to win the chase to the line, but the ball struck the foot of the post, which caught out the Bulls winger, allowing Marsh to score.

With Aston converting and Sene-Lefao back on, it threatened to be a nervy final 10 minutes in front of an excitable crowd of 1,948 spectators, but brilliant work from Lilley ensured that was not the case.

He got out of a bind with a brilliant netball-style pass to Holmes, who flicked it to Taufua, and the winger flopped over the line on the left.

Lilley missed that conversion attempt, but he made no mistake moments later, as Taufua finished off Sheffield once and for all with another score in the corner at the death.

SHEFFIELD: Jones-Bishop, Millar, Welham, Glover, Dawson-Jones, Aston, Marsh, Battye, Halafihi, Dickinson, Foster, Sene-Lefao, Gwaze. Interchanges: Broadbent, Clark, Wood, Roberts. 18th man: Hodgson.

BULLS: Holmes, Okunbor, Myers, Franco, Taufua, Gaskell, Lilley, Lawrence, Ott, Doro, Fulton, Appo, Hallas. Interchanges: Pele, Smith, Scurr, Davies. 18th man: Lehmann.

BULLS MAN OF THE MATCH: Jordan Lilley