Halifax 20, Bulls 16

HALIFAX celebrated at the final hooter as if they had won a Grand Final, and why not?

After defeating their big-city neighbours with a dramatic late try from Steve Tyrer, Richard Marshall's players and the home fans were entitled to milk the moment.

In terms of final league position, this result meant nothing, but for Halifax it was a ninth straight victory and a third defeat in five games for Bradford.

Take nothing away from the hosts.

They saw a Bulls team-sheet missing half a dozen key players, saw a chance for victory and took it with both hands.

Jimmy Lowes' men were truly awful during the opening 40 minutes as Halifax built up a 14-0 interval lead.

There was an improvement from the Bulls after the break – there had to be – and tries from Jay Pitts, Adam Henry and Omari Caro put them 16-14 ahead in the final quarter.

But there was an energy about Halifax which came to the fore again in the 76th minute when Tyrer seized on a loose pass and ran 50 metres to score.

Cue delirium in the home stands, while several Bulls players held their heads in their hands as the realisation of another defeat hit home.

Lowes was involved in an exchange of words with supporters at the end but the good news is that a number of key players will return in the promotion-deciding Super 8s.

Adam Sidlow, Danny Williams, Dale Ferguson, Adrian Purtell, Jake Mullaney, Harry Siejka and Lee Gaskell did not feature, while the Bulls will announce their new overseas signing this week.

Some players yesterday had a chance to prove to Lowes they should be in his top 17 when the serious business gets underway in a fortnight's time.

James Clare made his debut on the left wing, while Vila Halafihi made his first start for the Bulls – which meant regular hooker Adam O'Brien began on the bench against his home-town club.

Resting O'Brien ended his record of starting every game so far this season, while Pitts was also among the replacements.

Chairman Marc Green marched onto the terrace filled with the Bulls fans before kick-off and took up a vantage point right in the middle of the away support.

Richard Moore's thunderous hit on James Mendeika from the kick-off was followed by roars of approval from the home faithful and chants of 'We hate Bradford'. There was no mistaking the importance of the game to Halifax and their fans.

Halafihi almost burrowed his way over the line and then Steve Crossley touched down from close range, only for referee Joe Cobb to disallow the try for a forward pass from Paul Clough.

The drizzling rain made handling conditions difficult but the playing surface was near perfect – and Halifax opened the scoring in the tenth minute after Clough fumbled the ball just inside the Bulls' half.

The hosts advanced upfield and Scott Murrell's neat pass found Mitch Cahalane around 20 metres out, with the prop outmuscling the Bulls' defence to barge his way over the line.

The home stands erupted and Tyrer converted to make it 6-0 to Halifax.

Moore, who spent his formative years at Odsal well over a decade ago, revelled in the conditions and ran harder than any forward on the field.

Bradford could have signed Moore during the off-season but chose not to; in hindsight, it was not the most inspired of decisions.

It was largely one-way traffic, with Moore punching holes up front and Murrell providing invention and skill behind the home pack.

Ben Johnston's grubber kick into the left corner forced the Bulls to drop out midway through the first half.

In the 21st minute, Connor Robinson's grubber kick was not dealt with by Danny Addy and Tyrer touched down the loose ball.

Cobb disallowed the try – and then did likewise when Ben Heaton touched down Murrell's kick but from an offside position.

The Bulls enjoyed a brief purple patch which saw Caro taken out off the ball as he attempted to collect his own kick through.

But from the resultant penalty, the Bulls failed to make the pressure tell as Dan Fleming knocked on just yards from the line.

The Bulls looked a ragged bunch for much of the first half, the only consolation being that many of their key men were not involved.

When Halifax finally claimed their second try, it was no more than they deserved.

More excellent scheming from Murrell culminated in Johnston's neat pass sending the onrushing Heaton scampering through a gap inside the right channel to score from ten metres out.

Tyrer added the extras and "Super League, you're 'avin a laugh" was the taunt from the home supporters, before a penalty from Tyrer made it 14-0 at the break.

Halifax earned a standing ovation from their supporters, which said everything about their first-half performance.

Halifax v Bulls match pictures

Four minutes after the break though, Addy's kick led to Pitts touching down under the posts and Ryan Shaw converted to make it 14-6.

O'Brien replaced Halafihi in the 50th minute in a double substitution which saw Clough come back on for Fleming. O'Brien immediately made his presence felt as he attempted to crash over the line, before Henry touched down a kick from Addy on the next tackle.

Yet Cobb deemed a Halifax player had already got a hand to the ball and so the hosts were forced to drop out.

But moments later O'Brien fired a rapier-like pass out to Henry, who crashed over the line from close range, and Shaw converted to cut Halifax's lead to two points.

The Bulls were then lucky to escape at the other end when Caro spilled a high kick in the left corner – but he did put his team ahead in the 62nd minute.

The visitors worked the ball across the face of the Halifax defence at pace before Henry's pass found Caro on the right-hand touchline and he finished acrobatically in the corner.

That made it 16-14 but Shaw could not convert from a tight angle and Halifax levelled matters soon after with a penalty from Tyrer following O'Brien's interference at the play-the-ball.

Cobb put Bradford on a team warning and a 16-16 scoreline left the game into drop-goal territory.

Chev Walker was sin-binned by Cobb for interference and when a loose pass from O'Brien failed to find a team-mate, Tyrer scampered clear from distance to hand Halifax a famous victory.

Attendance: 4,589