Bradford Bulls left to ponder the one that got away

SURREAL – that was the word most commonly used to describe a quite remarkable afternoon at the Leigh Sports Village yesterday.

Six yellow cards, a commanding interval lead surrendered, Leigh head of rugby Derek Beaumont taunting Bulls players and staff and a refereeing performance which Jimmy Lowes branded a disgrace.

We have not heard the last of the day’s events but, ultimately, Bradford threw away victory in their first game outside the top flight for 41 years.

That was a fact Lowes readily conceded.His men led 20-6 at the break before being overpowered by 30 points to four in the second half.

The Bulls were backed by over 2,000 supporters and, at times during the opening half, they looked to be in a different class to Leigh, outscoring them by four tries to one.

Paul Rowley’s team deserve much credit for their second-half fightback but the way the Bulls threw away a victory that looked theirs for the taking will give Lowes much to think about.

The match was not without positives and Adam Sidlow and Adam O’Brien, in particular, did not deserve to be on the losing side. Lee Gaskell, Harry Siejka and Jake Mullaney also showed flashes of their attacking capabilities.

Yet it was Leigh who went home with the points and a rivalry has certain begun between these promotion rivals.

Bradford fizzed with vibrancy during the opening exchanges and O’Brien cleverly darted over from dummy half to open the scoring in the sixth minute.

Skipper Chev Walker ploughed over four minutes later for the Bulls’ second try, before Leigh replied when Ryan Brierley touched down under the posts from Martyn Ridyard’s clever grubber kick.

Leigh’s Jamie Action then became the first player to be sin-binned before the match erupted midway through the first half.

As Leigh full back Gregg McNally chased the ball down the left flank, it ran dead and he was pushed by Bulls winger Danny Williams.

That led to the pair clashing and winger Adam Higson also appeared to throw a punch as a mass brawl ensued, though referee Joe Cobb’s only action was to sin-bin McNally and Williams. Bulls scrum half Siejka was then sent to the cooler for a late tackle on Sam Barlow, who went off injured, but Leigh’s marquee signing Fuifui Moimoi began to make his mark in his first stint off the bench.

The NRL legend’s introduction stoked the fires further but the Bulls soaked up the pressure and scored two well-taken tries to reassert their control before the interval hooter.

Two minutes before the break, Mullaney finished with aplomb in the right corner after taking a fine pass from Siejka and then Leigh lost Kurt Haggerty to the sin-bin for tackling Etu Uaisele in the air.

Uaisele was undeterred and soon capped a brilliant flowing move with a try in the right corner to put the Bulls further in front.

Despite their 20-6 interval advantage, Lowes and assistant Karl Harrison were clearly far from happy with the officiating and made their feelings known at the break.

The Bulls looked to have claimed a potentially decisive fifth try shortly into the second half when Adrian Purtell appeared to have crossed the line after more neat handling from the visitors.

But he was deemed to have been held up and that gave Leigh all the scent they needed to launch a fightback.

In the 51st minute, Liam Kay squeezed over in the left corner – and four minutes later McNally collected Brierley’s fine pass to also cross the line.

Ridyard’s conversion cut the Bulls’ lead to four points and, as the hour mark approached, Siejka was sin-binned again for preventing Leigh from taking a 20-metre restart.

After the Bulls were forced to drop out, Moimoi came back on for his second spell and he was instrumental as Leigh led for the first time in the 65th minute.

The former Parramatta man drove at the heart of the Bulls’ defence through the middle with a lung-bursting run and, although his progress was eventually halted, Sean Penkywicz’s pass sent centre Tom Armstrong over.

Ridyard’s goal made it 22-20 and underlined their second-half dominance, prompting Leigh boss Beaumont to celebrate like a wild man in the main stand.

Yet the game took another twist when Penkywicz dropped the ball inside his own half and O’Brien was alert enough to collect possession and scamper over the line.

The travelling supporters rejoiced – but Leigh were not to be denied as McNally finished superbly from Kay’s break inside the left channel.

Ridyard then added a penalty and Brierley hit the post with a drop-goal attempt, before Leigh wrapped up victory with another try from Penkywicz.

He went over from acting half and the vast majority of those inside the Leigh Sports Village celebrated a famous victory in front of their delirious supporters.

Attendance: 7,449

Leigh v Bulls match pictures