No prizes for guessing the owner of the widest grin in the dressing room when the Bulls return to training tomorrow.

The impression of the Cheshire cat, or should that be Lancashire, will come from Paul Deacon after the Red Rose county claimed the honours in last night's Origin Game.

Deacon, left high and dry in the Bulls' loss at St Helens three days earlier, showed what had been missing with an all-action display at Headingley.

The baby-faced assassin chipped in with two tries and had a hand in at least one other as Lancashire stormed back from an early 12-point deficit to win.

And just to make victory taste that little bit sweeter for Deacon, eight of the beaten Yorkshire side were Bulls team-mates.

Appropriately the first try of the night had "Made in Bradford" stamped on it.

After Jimmy Lowes and Lee Gilmour had tested the water in the opening minutes, Yorkshire cashed in on a knock-on as Lowes sent Brian McDermott on a powerful run for the line before Stuart Fielden barged his way over.

And when Dom Peters, the Cockney left wing born in that very Lancashire borough of Acton, spilled a Tony Smith bomb around his bootlaces and allowed the Hull playmaker to scoop up the loose ball and score, it looked as if this latest reincarnation of the War of the Roses would follow the one-sided path of its predecessors.

Cue Deacon to make his first impression after 16 minutes. Paul Johnson dodged tackles galore before unloading to Wigan colleague Gary Connolly powering up on his left. He in turn switched right where Deacon ran in under the posts.

The Bulls ace promptly made his one blunder when he left the resulting kick-off for Barry McDermott in the in goal area who lost it in the sun. From the drop out, Yorkshire ran in their third try as Danny Orr set up home boy Keith Senior.

Yorkshire were far the more cohesive side at that stage, not too surprising considering the Bulls contributed the entire pack.

But Lancashire - and Deacon - turned the game on its head as they blasted their rivals with a four-try salvo in the space of nine minutes.

It was Deacon who lit the fuse when he hoisted a kick which caused widespread panic in the corner of the Yorkshire defence. A white-shirted hand batted it wildly over the line where Deacon was first to react with the decisive touch.

Andy Farrell missed the goal - his only failure in seven shots - but Lancashire were now in their stride and from their next possession, a slick passing move down the left ended with a try under the posts for Kris Radlinski, who was later awarded the Roy Powell memorial trophy as man of the match.

With Yorkshire wobbling, the Reds seized the lead at 22-18 with Deacon again instrumental in a score for Paul Sculthorpe, Bulls' Knowsley Road nemesis.

Lancashire seemed able to keep the ball alive at will with a couple of off-loads that would have done the Harlem Globetrotters proud.

Barry McDermott tore into three Yorkshire tacklers before somehow digging it out to a team-mate as they reeled off a superb ten-pass move which was finished by Leigh's Neil Turley - quite a way for the only non-Super League player to mark his first touch.

Yorkshire were suddenly ten points adrift although captain Lowes trimmed that to four right on the half-time hooter, taking advantage of sleepy defending to ground his own grubber kick.

The first half had been easy on the eye with some top-drawer passing but there were a few grumbles questioning the level of intensity.

That all changed after the break as tough tackling suddenly became the order. As the players got used to their new team-mates, things suddenly tightened up.

The penalty count remained amazingly low but the challenges had an extra momentum and the 10,253 crowd gave it a noisy backdrop.

Deacon sliced through with one mazy run only to be brought back for a forward pass but it took another 25 minutes before the scoreline was changed, Farrell making it 30-24 with a penalty.

Yorkshire got close without seriously threatening before Lancashire wrapped it up on another error.

Lowes limped off with a dead leg three minutes from the end and in the remaining time, Chev Walker made a mess of a Farrell bomb and the impressive Johnson was on hand to pounce.

Scorers: Yorks - tries: Senior, Smith, Lowes, Fielden; goals: Orr (3 from 3), Maloney (1 from 1). Lancs - tries: Deacon (2), Radlinski, Johnson, Sculthorpe, Turley; goals -- Farrell (6 from 7).

Yorkshire: Cardiss; Pryce, Walker, Senior, Hodgson; Orr, Smith; Brian McDermott, Lowes, Fielden, Peacock, Radford, Gilmour. Subs (all used): Maloney, Cummins, King, Fleary, Anderson.

Lancashire: Radlinski; Wellens, Johnson, Connolly, Peters; Briers, Deacon; O'Connor, Cunningham, Barry McDermott, Joynt, Sculthorpe, Farrell. Subs (all used): Turley, Jonkers, Coley, Newton, Sinfield.

Referee: Bob Connolly (Wigan).

Attendance: 10,253