Whitehaven 18, Bradford Bulls 46

AT the end of a traumatic week which saw players and staff wonder if they would actually get paid, the Bulls began their Championship Shield campaign with an ultimately comfortable win.

It was not pretty at times, but a hat-trick for homegrown academy product Alex Mellor was something to warm the heart of every Bradford supporter who made the long trek to Cumbria.

After a season of abject failure which has reduced the club to the indignity of the Championship Shield, fans welcome such positives with open arms.

Mellor, now in his fourth season in the first team, had not scored a senior try for Bradford before this year.

He opened his account in a win at Dewsbury in April and had touched down twice since then.

Yesterday, he doubled his tally for the campaign in an outstanding display from right centre, while also weighing in with a superb assist for Kieren Moss’ try.

A devastating purple patch inside the opening quarter harvested four tries for Rohan Smith’s men and put them 20-0 up.

First, Danny Addy went over and Mellor quickly added a second before further scores from Danny Williams and Matty Blythe confirmed Bradford’s early control.

Yet once again, the defensive frailties which have undermined the Bulls all season haunted them once again as they switched off, allowing their struggling hosts to hit back with two tries.

Second-rower Ugo Perez dummied his way through the Bulls’ defence and centre Chris Taylor then darted over from acting half, with Louis Jouffret’s two goals making it 20-12.

However, Mellor added his second on the stroke of half-time to make it 26-12 at the break before the Halifax-born product completed his treble three minutes after the restart.

Kris Welham and Moss applied further Bradford tries before Whitehaven hit back with a third score through second-rower Dave Allen.

Kurt Haggerty finished off Moss’ pass for a ninth Bradford score but it was not a polished performance from the Bulls as they made over a dozen handling errors and saw their line breached three times.

Had Smith’s men beaten Featherstone two weeks earlier, it would have been them hosting Leeds at Odsal on Saturday.

Okay, so they might have been comprehensively outclassed, as Jon Sharp’s men were at Post Office at the weekend.

But the mere fact they were competing with their old rivals again would have given the club such a massive boost in every sense, not least financially.

Alas, the Bulls have been left with nothing else but the Championship Shield to play for in the remainder of this season.

There were little more than 100 hardly souls from Bradford at the Recreation Ground and the onus was on Smith’s players to give the fans who did travel something to shout about.

It was a strong Bradford team bolstered by a recall for homegrown hooker Adam O’Brien and the return of fit-again props Epalahame Lauaki and Steve Crossley, who both made the bench.

Whitehaven are fighting for their Championship survival and had not won since beating bitter Cumbrian rivals Workington at the Summer Bash in May.

Bradford produced a welcome reminder of their class in the third minute when Williams, back in the team after being left out in recent weeks, embarked on a delightful break from his own 20-metre line.

The former Leeds winger, whose contract is up at the end of the year, took a pass and stepped his way through the Whitehaven line.

He then showed intelligence to find Moss on Whitehaven’s 40-metre line before winger Ryan Ince made a fine saving tackle.

Yet Bradford continued to probe and quick hands from Dane Chisholm and Lewis Charnock found Addy, who cleverly darted through a gap to score from ten metres out.

Addy converted his own try and the Bulls scored again soon after when a fine sequence saw the ball pass through at least five pairs of hands, culminating in Jay Pitts sending Mellor over in the right corner.

Charnock kicked for goal this time but he could not convert, although the pressure from the Bulls continued apace as Pitts and Kris Welham went close.

But from that set, a superb last-tackle pass from O’Brien found Williams unmarked in the left corner and the winger had a simple walk-in score which Charnock converted.

It was impressive stuff from the Bulls and the procession continued in the 11th minute when Addy, who was at the heart of everything for Bradford at loose forward, threw a long pass out to Mellor inside the right channel.

Mellor could have gone over himself but he unselfishly ushered Blythe over in the right corner for another simple but well-worked score which Charnock failed to convert from a difficult angle.

After conceding four tries in 15 minutes, Whitehaven finally steadied themselves and began to enjoy some pressure of their own.

Indeed, it came as no surprise when second-rower Perez collected a pass from Taylor inside the right channel and dummied his way through the Bulls defence to scarper over the line.

That 26th-minute minute score was converted by Jouffret and poured new-found belief into the Cumbrians.

Now it was Whitehaven asking all the questions and they scored again five minutes later when Taylor capitalised on a dozing Bradford defence to scoot over from dummy half.

Jouffret again converted and Smith, clearly alarmed by what he was seeing from his position in the main stand, made a quadruple substitution.

Adam Sidlow, Ben Kavanagh and O’Brien were replaced in the front row by Crossley, Lauaki and Stuart Howarth, while Tom Olbison came on for Addy.

As the interval approached, a teasing grubber kick from Chisholm forced Whitehaven to drop out.

From there, the hosts buckled for a fifth time right before the interval hooter as Chisholm’s bouncing grubber kick was pounced on by Mellor for a try which Charnock converted.

That made it 26-12 at the break and gave the Bulls vital breathing space.

Three minutes after the restart, Mellor seized centre stage once more with another smart finish inside the right channel.

Welham was denied a try when referee Tom Crashley deemed he had dropped the ball over the line as he attempted to ground it.

But the former Hull KR man squeezed over in the left corner in the 57th minute before the Bulls conjured the try of the match two minutes later.

Who was there to brilliantly create it?

It was that man Mellor again.

Superbly advancing forward at pace to take Howarth’s pass, he burst through the Whitehaven defence on halfway before a perfectly-timed pass sent Moss racing under the sticks from 30 metres out.

Whitehaven fashioned another spirited response as Ryan Duffy went close before Allen did claim their third score as he went over in the right corner.

Haggerty then supported good work from Moss to burst clear from 30 metres out for a ninth and final Bradford score, although a sterner test awaits when Halifax visit Odsal on Sunday aiming for a fifth straight win over their big-city neighbours.

Attendance: 910