The Bulls shattered the Super League crowd record at Odsal last night and then immediately set their sights on surpassing it.

On a night to remember at the famous old stadium 24,020 turned out for the top-of-the table showdown with Leeds topping the previous record of 21,666 set at Headingley when the sides last met in June.

But elated by a pulsating 19-18 victory Bulls officials believe they could set a new record in the play-off semi-final on the weekend of September 24/26.

"If we were to face Leeds again it could certainly be on the cards," said Bulls spokesman Stuart Duffy.

"We are absolutely elated with the backing from the fans. We have had great support from the Telegraph & Argus and when the figure came through in the second half it was a fantastic moment and made all the hard work over the last few weeks worthwhile."

The Bulls had trailed 10-0 after only 11 minutes and were outplayed for long periods by a Leeds team needing the points to go above St Helens into second place in the table.

Coach Matthew Elliott admitted: "I don't think we played our best at all. What we did show was that we have players who can come up with special plays when we need it.

"The pleasing thing for me was that I didn't show all my cards tonight and I'm fairly confident that, now we're at the semi-final stage, we have a fair bit left in the tank."

The Bulls, who went into the game without full-back Stuart Spruce and centre Scott Naylor, who was a late withdrawal with groin trouble, lost influential hooker Jimmy Lowes with an ankle injury just before half-time but he is not expected to miss any matches.

"I could probably have put Jimmy back on and, if it had been the Grand Final, I definitely would have," said Elliott.

"I did err on the side of caution with my substitutions. They were not so much tactical. If someone was limping, I was getting them off the field."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.