Bradford Bulls beat Featherstone Rovers to seal French semi

That impressive victory has handed them an away semi-final at Toulouse, 12 months after Bradford’s dream of promotion to Super League died in the South of France.

And that semi-final will be repeated once again, as Bradford took command of today's eliminator from the off.

From Ben Reynolds getting the game underway, Featherstone did not touch the ball again until Bulls had gone over for the opening try.

Dan Smith won a six again on halfway and on the last tackle, Jordan Lilley clipped the ball high towards Jayden Okunbor, he knocked it down and academy product Jayden Myers was there to squeeze over in the right corner.

Jayden Myers got Bradford Bulls off to the perfect start. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Lilley’s conversion cannoned back off the post and then the rain started to fall, with further drama just around the corner.

Doro smashed into Thomas Lacans on halfway as he sent a high kick into Bulls territory, and Fev were riled.

Bradford lost the ball forward returning it, then there was some grappling as the visitors retrieved possession.

It looked as if Reynolds swung a punch at Holmes as a melee broke out, but referee Aaron Moore simply gathered captains Michael Lawrence and Greg Minikin for a stern talking to, then handed the away side a penalty for the initial accidental offside.

From there, Fev were looking the slightly more threatening in attack, but it was Bulls who grabbed the next points.

Kieran Gill pounced on a dozing Lacans to force a handling error and from the resulting scrum, Rovers were caught offside, Lilley taking the two points on offer to increase the home side’s lead.

Franklin Pele's first act off the interchange bench was to bounce his man out of the way and release Holmes.

The full back sprinted through and evaded one tackle, but had to awkwardly try and pass it to Gill out of the back of his hand from 10 metres out. The ball went to the ground and the chance was lost.

Lacans' grubber then caused chaos, and it looked like a Bulls player knocks on in his in goal area.

Caleb Aekins converged and looked set to get a finger on the ball but a desperate kick by Jarrod Sammut saved Bulls as they conceded a goal line dropout.

Sammut was involved again moments later, as he intercepted a pass and bombed 80 metres up the pitch.

He was brought down at the last by two chasing players but he looked to have slid over the line.

Yet Moore and the touch judge deemed him to have been stopped short and no try was given.

Jarrod Sammut stopped a try, then almost immediately scored one in a manic couple of minutes. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

But Bradford did get on the board moments later with a surprise early drop goal.

Advancing up the pitch from a penalty, Harvey Makin punched a good hole in the opposition defence, and the ball was worked back for Lilley to knock over the one-pointer to make it a two-score game.

Bulls almost increased their lead further, as Pele and Keven Appo worked the ball to Gill, who looked to be sprinting through to score.

But Jack Bussey came up with a superb ankle tap to deny him, as the home centre went sprawling to the ground with the tryline in sight.

Featherstone looked set to get their first points on the board with a couple of minutes of the first half to go after some soft Bulls defending, but then Lacans was penalised for holding on in the tackle, as his side went into the break scoreless.

Lilley and Sammut had been trying grubbers without reward all afternoon, but Tom Holmes showed them how it was done 10 minutes into the second half.

After the forwards had blasted Bulls close, Holmes clipped a delicate little ball through, which sat up perfectly for Gill to catch and slide over the line for a converted score.

Kieran Gill skids over the line to score for Bulls in the second half. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

A stunning third try from Bulls then gave them some real breathing space in the game.

Mitch Souter, who had just come on after Sam Hallas began the game at hooker, made the initial break, then fed the charging Appo, who sent the ball to Gill.

No one was on Gill's outside and the move looked to be slowing, but then Lilley steamed up on his inside, reeled in the centre's pass, sprinted to the line, raised an arm in celebration and slid across the whitewash, before converting his own score.

Featherstone could not make the most of a couple of half-chances in the next few minutes and instead Bulls finished them off once and for all.

Skipper Michael Lawrence drove his side close, Souter picked the ball up at the base of ruck, fed Appo with the short ball, and the hulking second row crashed over the line to score, Lilley adding the extras.

Michael Lawrence played his part in Bulls' fourth and final try against Featherstone. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Bradford got a little loose in the final 10 minutes, and grubbers from Dec Patton and Reynolds led to tries from Josh Hardcastle and Brad Day respectively.

But those scores came far too late to affect the result, as Bulls marched into the semis.

BULLS: Holmes, Okunbor, Myers, Gill, Taufua, Sammut, Lilley, Lawrence, Hallas, Doro, Appo, Fulton, Smith. Interchanges: Scurr, Souter, Pele, Makin. 18th man: Davies.

FEATHERSTONE: Aekins, Wynne, Hardcastle, Minikin, Gale, Reynolds, Lacans, Springer, Jones, Lockwood, Day, Bussey, Beckett. Interchanges: Albert, Arnold, Patton, Nakubuwai. 18th man: Eden.

BULLS MAN OF THE MATCH: KEVEN APPO.