BULLS half back Joe Keyes hopes the weekend victory over Swinton Lions will be the catalyst for the club's Championship survival.

After opening the season with back-to-back defeats, the Bulls – who were docked 12 points by the Rugby Football League – desperately needed a victory to boost spirits.

Keyes' return from injury helped inspire a 35-28 victory at Heywood Road and the Bulls are now in buoyant mood ahead of Sunday's clash with French club Toulouse Olympique XIII at Odsal.

"We have got the 'monkey' off our back now and it is five more wins until we are back on zero points," he said. "Surviving in this league is the goal and we are going to do everything we can to achieve that.

"We have got the first win – which many people didn't think we would have at this stage – and now we are going to build on that and take it into the next few weeks."

Former London Broncos player Keyes, 21, missed the defeats against Hull KR and Rochdale Hornets due to a groin injury.

He returned as a replacement for the injured Jordan Lilley and would have celebrated with a drop goal but for a howler of a decision by referee Andy Sweet.

Keyes 'scored' shortly before the interval but, bizarrely, Sweet ruled that his effort had gone wide of the posts.

"The referee gives what he sees. It's down to him and we can't control that," he shrugged. "I can confirm it went over. If it didn't I wouldn't have reacted like I did! But we dug deep, put that to one side, and got the job done."

Commenting on his own display, Keyes said: "I wasn't overly pleased with my individual performance but it was my first game back after a few weeks out and I was a bit rusty. I am going to try and rip it in training this week and build on it."