LEIGH Beattie saluted an “outstanding” four-try blast from James Bentley as Bulls cut their deficit to minus two points by beating Sheffield.

Yesterday’s 48-16 win at Odsal was the strong response Beattie demanded after last week’s shock defeat to Oldham.

Youngster Bentley stole the show with half of the eight tries to leave the interim coach raving about his display.

Beattie said: “He’s outstanding and could still play in the (under) 19s. I wish he was playing for me on Saturday!

“He’s doing a great job in the first team. He’s standing up and is getting better every week.”

Ethan Ryan, Ross Oakes, Daniel Murray and Johnny Campbell also crossed while Oscar Thomas, back after a three-game absence with a toe injury, was perfect with eight conversions.

Beattie added: “Last week we let ourselves down but we’ve improved massively. Everyone was upset and we got the response we wanted.

“We spoke about cutting out errors. We only made two first half and completed (sets) at roughly 80 per cent.

“Second half we made six when it got a bit scrappy in the middle. But they reacted like I wanted them to.

“Teams aren’t going to come and roll over. That’s not in their nature.

“But if you stick to stuff you’ve planned and trained for, things usually turn out okay.

“We fixed up our attack and defence and everything we tried to put into place worked.

“Jordan Lilley and Leon Pryce controlled things and defensively we were good.

“This win is massive. It’s another two points we’ve knocked off and we’ll keep going – we’re not worried about anyone else.”

Trialist forward James Davies played 20 minutes and Beattie was happy with his contribution.

“I thought he carried the ball well with some good leg drive,” he said. “Defensively, he got bumped off a couple of times but to say he’s only been here a week, I think he gave it a real crack.”

But the Bulls are likely to be without playmaker Lilley, whose loan from Leeds Rhinos is up.

With the busy Easter period approaching, Beattie believes their Super League neighbours will want to hang on to him as cover.

Beattie admitted: “I’m not 100 per cent sure on that but I think Leeds will call him back for because they’ll need him themselves.”