Bradford Bulls 29 Toulouse 22

WHISPER it softly, but the great escape might just be on.

A club which did not even exist a few weeks ago now have two wins in eight days.

Moreover, they have gained a precious commodity that money cannot buy – self-belief and momentum.

If the Bulls are to claw back their 12-point penalty and avoid a bottom-two finish in the Championship, they simply have to win their home games.

This was a deserved victory that was chiselled on a vibrant first-half attacking display which harvested four tries and put Bradford 22-6 up at the break.

The less said about the second half the better, as Toulouse hit back with three more tries of their own to set up a tense finale.

Mercifully, Ross Oakes' touchdown earlier in the second half and Oscar Thomas' late drop-goal were enough to see Leigh Beattie's men home at a wet and windy Odsal.

Bradford are slowly evolving under Beattie's watch and this latest win, which took them to minus eight points, was achieved with a home-grown heart.

Players such as Oakes, Ethan Ryan and James Bentley stood out, while teenage loanee Mikolaj Oledzki never took a backward step and trialist Scott Moore was outstanding in an 80-minute display.

Much-travelled hooker Moore took centre stage on his home debut and Salford loanee Daniel Murray also made his mark off the bench.

The previous week's victory at Swinton had evidently poured confidence into the Bulls and they are growing in stature as new faces come in to boost squad numbers and quality.

Yet Bradford made a nightmare start, conceding the kind of soft try we have seen all too often in recent times as Toulouse – missing key trio Jonathan Ford, Mark Kheirallah and Kuni Minga – led inside the second minute.

Visiting centre Bastian Ader found Gavin Maguerite in support to his left and the winger evaded the challenge of Thomas all too easily to round the full back and scamper over in the left corner.

Full back Tony Maurel landed a superb touchline conversion to make it 6-0 – but the Bulls had a strong wind at their backs during the first half and systematically took control of the match.

Buoyed by the intricate probing of Moore, playing the second match of a four-game trial, and the youthful exuberance of several promising youngsters, Bradford breached Toulouse's line four times during the first half.

Thomas' head could have easily dropped after allowing Maguerite in but he was instrumental in setting up tries for Bentley and Ryan.

The hosts' first try came in the fifth minute when, after Oakes had gone close inside the left channel after some neat handling, the ball was worked out to the right.

Jordan Lilley and Leon Pryce combined to find James Mendeika, whose short pass found Iliess Macani and the former London Broncos winger dived acrobatically over in the right corner.

Denny Solomona would have been proud of such a score; Macani certainly was.

Although Thomas could not convert from the touchline – his attempt rebounded off an upright – Bradford quickly went in search of further tries.

They were aided by Toulouse's indiscipline as second-rower Rhys Curran was sin-binned by referee Jack Smith for upending home debutant Kevin Larroyer and a second home try soon arrived.

From the penalty, the Bulls advanced upfield and Thomas' astute pass sent home-grown second-rower Bentley galloping through a gap in the visiting rearguard for a well-executed score.

Thomas converted and there was no shortage of desire at the other end of the field as Ryan showed his mettle with a strong tackle to deny Ader after quick hands from Kane Bentley and Stanislas Robin.

The French outfit, still down to 12 men, continued to concede penalties and it proved costly again in the 20th minute when Thomas' long pass found Ryan on the left-hand touchline.

The former West Bowling amateur finished with deadly aplomb, rivalling and perhaps even bettering the quality that Macani had shown earlier in the half.

From there, Bradford overflowed with self-belief and it came as no surprise when they scored a fourth try in the 25th minute.

With on-loan Salford prop Murray on for his home debut off the bench, the Bulls poured forward and fashioned a delightful move which culminated in Bentley sending Moore through a gap and he made no mistake from 20 metres out.

Thomas booted his third goal to make it 22-6 – and Bentley was denied a try shortly before the break as the Bulls went for the kill.

Their high-octane display continued after the break when Ryan touched down in the left corner from another Thomas pass, which was deemed to be forward and no try was awarded.

Still, it underlined the attacking threat of the Bulls and in the 52nd minute they did claim a fifth try.

Capping a period of home pressure, Pryce's perfectly-judged short pass allowed the onrushing Oakes to crash over inside the left channel and Thomas did the rest with the boot.

Yet Toulouse simply refused to lie down and hit back with three second-half tries to set up a tense finale.

They claimed their second score of the match on the hour, when Maguerite collected a long pass from Ader and crossed in the left corner.

The conversion attempt was wide but five minutes later the visitors struck again when Robin collected Mourad Kriouache's pass and sprinted under the posts.

With 12 minutes remaining, Toulouse scored again when another long pass found Maguerite in the left corner and he finished in clinical fashion again.

Maurel kicked a fine touchline conversion and, as the rain begin to fall and the decision appeared to be going against the Bulls, they eventually saw the game out.

With three minutes remaining, and having missed a drop-goal attempt moments earlier, Thomas kicked a one-pointer to ease home nerves and seal a potentially priceless win.

Attendance: 4,151