Fitting send-off for Lowes as Bulls romp to easy home win

IT was a fitting last hurrah for Jimmy Lowes; a thumping victory and a performance which at times encouraged hopes that Bradford could yet end up in Super League next year.

Lowes kept a low profile yesterday and there was no fanfare or rousing farewell speech to the supporters to who he will always be rightly revered as a Bulls legend.

Afterwards, the head coach fulfilled his media duties for the last time and paid tribute to his players and staff before heading to the pub with his backroom team.

A chapter in the tumultuous recent history of a rugby league institution has now closed.

It is to be hoped that Lowes’ successor can harness the existing quality in the squad and, with a couple of key additions, make the Bulls a serious force to be reckoned with in the all-important middle eights.

This was not the most fluent of performances but it was still far too good for a part-time Workington side hit by injury and missing former Bradford star Jarrod Sammut.

Danny Williams and Omari Caro both weighed in with two tries apiece while Oscar Thomas and Mitch Clark claimed their first tries for the club.

Danny Addy enjoyed a particularly influential performance at scrum half, orchestrating much of Bradford’s response to falling behind to Chris Murphy’s opening score.

In fact, Addy was instrumental throughout and seemed to relish the added responsibility in the absence of Lee Gaskell, who was absent due to a knock.

In a balanced opening, both sides traded a couple of decent early sets without really looking like scoring, but that changed in the 10th minute when the Cumbrians struck the first blow.

Carl Forber's kick fell kindly to Graeme Mattinson and he found Jason Mossop who sent Murphy over in the left corner for an unconverted score.

The Bulls soon replied in the 16th minute and it stemmed from the introduction of the imposing Clark off the bench.

After Workington were caught offside, the subsequent penalty saw Bradford enjoy a period of sustained pressure on Workington’s line.

Some slick passing saw the ball worked across the face of the visitors’ defence from right to left, with Addy, Adam O’Brien, Adrian Purtell and Thomas all involved before it came to Caro.

The winger was denied in the left corner but the Bulls continued to probe and O’Brien was denied from close range as he attempted to spin out of a tackle and dive over from dummy half.

On the next tackle, Thomas flighted a left-foot kick to the corner and, although Caro could not catch and ground, good work from Kris Welham led to Addy collecting possession inside Workington’s 20-metre line.

The homegrown star, with a combination of impressive pace and delightful footwork, engineered his way through the Workington’s defence and intelligence to send the onrushing Clark over the line.

Clark made an immediate impact after replacing Dan Fleming moments earlier and he began to show just why he has attracted admiring glances from Super League clubs.

Addy’s conversion put the Bulls 6-4 ahead and appeared confidence into the hosts.

Addy continued to take the game by the scruff of the neck and a testing kick forced Workington to drop out.

Jay Pitts then picked up a knock and was replaced by Dale Ferguson before Addy engineered the Bulls’ second try, this time planting a high kick to the right corner where Williams rose to pluck the ball out of the air and touching down in style.

It was a welcome reminder of the former Leeds winger’s predatory instincts on his first appearance since last year’s Million Pound Game after recovering from surgery on a hand injury.

Confidence surged through the veins of the Bulls as they grabbed a third try in the 28th minute.

Thomas, who supported the attack well throughout after recovering from an early fumble which led to Bradford dropping out, found Addy and his sublime offload sent Purtell galloping over the line inside the right channel.

It was a delightful score and Addy’s third goal made it 18-4 and Clare added a fourth in the 31st minute when he took a quick pass and stretched out to score from close range, underlining his ability to cross the whitewash.

Addy could not convert this time and Workington, who with Forber and Doran in the halves looked dangerous when they got the opportunity to attack, refused to lie down.

They scored again in the 37th minute when more quick passing led to Murphy taking a long pass to dive over again in the left corner.

This time Forber converted and Workington went close again as the inteval approached after a fantastic handling move led to Matthew Gee going agonisingly close, only for him to lose control as he attempted to finish off a wonderful flowing move.

Gee could not hide his frustration after failing to score and a third Workington at that point might have made things interesting heading into the second half.

Probably not, though, as the Bulls always gave the inescapable impression they could move through the gears when the opportunities arose – and so it proved.

Leading 22-10 at the interval, that advantage was extended with a devastating purple patch which harvested three tries within 12 minutes of the restart to effectively kill off Workington’s challenge.

Caro broke superbly down the left flank and, with Welham in support, the winger found his centre in support with a perfectly-timed offload which serves as another reminder of their centre-wing partnership at Hull KR.

In the 52nd minute, the procession continued as Caro grabbed his first after touching down in clinical fashion in the left corner.

Williams then went close to scoring again as he broke clear before Jack Murphy denied him with a fine saving tackle.

Yet Workington replied him at the other end in the 63rd minute when he collected Forber’s pass to score inside the right channel.

Five minutes later, Thomas took centre stage with a stunning individual effort.

Collecting a pass from Addy inside his own 20-metre line, the former London Broncos star embarked on a searing break which took him on the outside of the Workington defence down the right flank before he scampered clear in the corner.

It was an exhilarating effort and the Bulls added gloss to their victory late on as Caro claimed his second from Thomas’ pass.

Ferguson, another notable performer for Bradford, then supported Welham’s break to score from a central position and Addy, fittingly, had the final say with his sixth conversion.