Bradford Bulls 44

London Broncos 16

The Bulls fans who left early after what was admittedly a patchy performance missed the try of the match.

In a move that covered fully 80 metres and brought the Odsal faithful to their feet, Iestyn Harris's pass put Lesley Vainikolo through a gap and, after well-timed inter-passing with skipper Robbie Paul, the Volcano launched himself beyond the Broncos' line for a spectacular last-minute try.

That apart the abiding memory was a first half that was little to write home about as it contained too many knock-ons and failures to complete sets.

Nevertheless the contest still marked 'Welsh wizard' Harris's first points in Bulls colours as the champions moved back into the top four of Super League.

In the absence of Paul Deacon, he landed two late goals as the hosts nipped London's second-half revival in the bud.

Deacon needed five stitches in a head wound and also admitted to receiving two stinging blows to the shoulders.

"My neck hurts, but I'll be all right," said the scrum half afterwards.

The Broncos, who need points to pull away from the threat of relegation, suffered a blow in the pre-match warm-up.

Their skipper Mat Toshack, who hadn't played since last September's play-off match at St Helens after knee and groin injuries, felt something tug during training on Saturday but thought nothing of it.

However, the injury got worse during last night's warm-up and Lee Greenwood replaced him on the bench, getting on the field in the 28th minute.

The Bulls started with Paul Anderson this time, leaving fellow prop Joe Vagana on the bench, but neither were to shine on a sunlit evening when Jamie Peacock looked the best Bulls forward.

Deacon put Bradford ahead with a penalty goal in the second minute when the Broncos were ajudged to be holding down, but London were soon pressing strongly and it needed a multiple tackle to halt full back Paul Sykes just short of the line when he looked set to score against his former club.

Vainikolo then came to the rescue for the Bulls, stopping a threatening break from London loose forward Mark O'Halloran by knocking the ball from his grasp when running back.

There was something of note virtually every minute at this stage of the contest, and in the seventh minute the visitors almost paid the penalty for trying to intercept a Bulls pass in their left midfield.

The ball found its way to Andy Smith, but he was bundled into touch by at least two Broncos just short of the line.

The Bulls were finding it hard to settle with Harris, playing his third match since his return to rugby league, struggling to make an impact.

But they extended their lead after 14 minutes with winger Andy Smith rounding off a

crisp passing move for a try which Deacon converted.

Possession came about because Robbie Paul chipped into an open space and the ball shot forward first bounce, causing Sykes to knock on.

From the scrum the Bulls went right again, Smith this time having the pace and time to go over in the corner.

Vainikolo, who was a rock in defence, continued to cause London problems but Bradford's handling mistakes allowed the visitors to stay in contention, despite losing prop Andrew Hart to the sin bin for ten minutes in the 18th minute.

Vainikolo put Bradford further ahead with a fortunate touchdown after 25 minutes when he picked up the ball near the line after centre Shontayne Hape's pass rebounded off a London defender.

The Broncos' defence were playing a good imitation of statues at the time and protested to referee Ganson and a touch judge afterwards over the legality of the try.

Broncos cut the deficit on the stroke of half-time after Stuart Fielden had been penalised for holding down.

Hart compensated for his spell in the sin-bin by scoring from close range after a superb pass from scrum half Dennis Moran.

Having looked distinctly unimpressive in the first period, the Bulls began the second half in rampant mood with Paul, Logan Swann and Jamie Langley crossing for tries within the space of ten minutes.

Deacon converted two out of three to open a 28-4 lead. But just when it looked as if the Bulls were going to cut loose, London replied with two quick-fire tries of their own from centre Rob Jackson and a delighted scrum half Moran, plus goals from Sykes and Liam Botham.

Busy full back Stuart Reardon, whose bravery was not in question after one first-half dive for the ball, then added a close-range try for the Bulls and, with Deacon off the field injured, Harris stepped up to open his scoring account for the Bulls with the conversion.

The Welshman then created a try for prop Stuart Fielden with a familiar crossfield run, but was unable to convert.

Retchless, who denied Smith a second try by a great tackle in the 68th minute, was sin-binned in the closing minutes and Bradford finished with a flourish with that Vainikolo try.