Wait for 'zero' goes on as Bulls lose derby to Halifax

THE wait to reach that magic zero mark goes on after Bulls were deservedly beaten by their West Yorkshire neighbours.

Hopes were high that this Good Friday local derby would see them wipe clean their 12-point deduction after a string of impressive results at home.

But Halifax continued their liking for games against Bulls, which has now seen them win five out of their last six clashes.

With a tough trip to follow at top-four contenders Featherstone on Monday, Bulls face an uphill task if they want to make it a happy Easter and shed their minus tag.

Having made a big improvement against Sheffield last time out after being accused of ‘dumb rugby’ by coach Leigh Beattie in the previous defeat at Oldham, the errors returned to Bulls’ play.

Several times they looked in good positions to score only for loose passes at key moments to let them down.

Bulls had topped 40 points in their last three wins at home – turning them into the division’s highest scorers outside the top two.

But they were up against one of the meanest defences, only leaders Hull KR and Featherstone having conceded fewer points than Fax.

Fans were denied the chance to see Dane Chisholm back in a Bulls shirt after the announcement of his return from Sheffield on Thursday was soon followed by a counter-claim by Eagles that he was still contracted to them.

The South Yorkshire club deemed the move an illegal approach, with the matter now in the hands of the RFL.

Chisholm took to Twitter to claim he had texts and emails from the Eagles confirming they would verify the release from his contract before his re-signing was announced.

Bulls made three changes to their line-up with Joe Keyes, Liam Kirk and Brandan Wilkinson stepping up from the bench with loan players Jordan Lilley and Daniel Murray recalled by their parent clubs.

A cagey first 15 minutes saw no score but it looked like Bulls would take the lead with a cross-field move only for Oscar Thomas’ pass to Omari Caro on the left wing to go flying over his head. A decent ball and Caro was surely in.

The home fans thought their team had gone ahead soon afterwards with a move involving Scott Moore and Leon Pryce before Keyes appeared to touch down but the referee ruled he was short of the line.

To rub salt into the wound, the deadlock was broken by the visitors soon afterwards.

A high kick from 'Fax playmaker Scott Murrell saw Ben Heaton catch Caro out in the right corner and former Bulls loanee James Saltonstall was on hand to receive the pass and touch down.

There was more bad news to follow as Johnny Campbell was sin-binned for a professional foul, and moments later Bulls found themselves further behind when Shane Grady capitalised on the numerical advantage to cross the whitewash with talisman Steve Tyrer adding the extras.

Trailing 10-0 at the break, the Bulls were still in the game but they would have to cut out the errors if they were to get back in it against a strong Halifax rearguard.

And they thought they had made the perfect start to the second half when a crossfield kick from Keyes was caught by man of the moment James Bentley, who appeared to have added to his eight tries for the season but the officials ruled he had knocked on.

At the other end, Fax thought they had scored but Scott Grix was held up by some superb defence led by Wilkinson.

There was a great chance for Bulls to close the gap when Brandon Moore was sent to the sin bin for a reckless foul on Ethan Ryan but they were unable to take advantage, coughing up possession when close to the line on one attack.

Halifax went 16-0 up in controversial fashion when an apparent forward pass by Jacob Fairbank was not given. Bulls switched off and Ben Johnston touched down after Murrell’s kick before Tyrer made an easy conversion.

Bulls soon got back in the game when Keyes' great cut-out pass out to Illies Macani saw him slide over in the corner. Thomas continued his great kicking form with a conversion from the touchline.

The Odsal crowd came alive but they were soon quietened when Fax responded with another try as Murrell's kick to the corner was not dealt with by Caro, and Saltonstall got his second try.

A penalty in front of the sticks from Tyrer knocked the stuffing out of Bulls but they added a consolation when Macani’s kick to the corner was pounced on by Ryan and Thomas added the extras.

But it was too little too late and now Bulls must regroup for an even tougher test at Featherstone.