Hollow victory for Bulls as play-off dream dies

Bradford kept their side of the bargain as they chased the final play-off berth, winning at Hull last night to make it five on the bounce.

But over at St Helens, Catalans decided to kick-start their own season, picking up a shock success which saw them cling on to eighth, denying Steve McNamara’s side that last play-off berth.

Sport can be so cruel. As his gutsy players edged ahead in the dying stages of a brutal contest, some thought they were on their way and had rescued their campaign. Wayne Godwin was even jumping around at the end.

Of all their five-match winning run, this was the toughest victory for the Bulls to secure.

They went behind, then took an 18-6 lead, before seeing Hull claw back to level and then sneaking it back at the death.

Blooded skipper Paul Deacon was outstanding, as was Andy Lynch and Steve Menzies, Hull, out of the play-off picture already, looked like they might upset the plan themselves early on.

They twice broke down their right on the last tackle to keep Bulls guessing.

Danny Houghton was deemed offside off Danny Washbrook’s kick though and then Michael Platt got back to knock the ball dead when Craig Hall dinked through.

The hosts did get in at the third attempt though when Tom Briscoe dived over in the left corner on eight minutes.

A Willie Manu offload down the middle saw Horne race through. He was denied but the ball was swiftly moved wide and Danny Tickle’s long pass saw Briscoe just manage to scramble over despite the attentions of Semi Tadulala.

The video referee ruled he had just strayed in field. Unfortunately, he couldn’t rule on the Josh Cordoba knock-on earlier in the set. Tickle added the extras.

Nick Scruton smashed Cordoba in the re-start set but undid his hard work by having a second attempt, gifting Hull an easy penalty.

The Bulls were guilty of that for much of the first half – making needless mistakes to let Hull off the hook.

After forcing a drop-out, Lynch fired a pass which Deacon spilled on the second tackle; they forced Hull into coughing up on halfway but then Michael Platt ran behind Chris Nero to turn over possession again, while Paul Sykes wasted another great opportunity when he tried passing to Nero while his team-mate was still trying to get back in the line.

But they marched down field with ease, Lynch, Sam Burgess and Scruton all making good yards, and it was clear they could hurt Hull if they added some polish.

One of the floodlights temporarily went off as Bulls defended their line at the other end and then the lights nearly did go off for Burgess as he got clattered in the head by the knee of Sykes as they teamed up to bring down Tickle.

The England prop suffered a massive cut, with blood spurting freely, so he was forced off for a quick stitch-up job.

Deacon, whose attacking kicks early on didn’t cause much trouble for the home side, put up a great bomb which had Briscoe in trouble.

The youngster took it but not without a little pressure from his team-mates, who were penalised for shepherding the Bulls chasers.

This time Bulls capitalised and it was Deacon, with an excellent short, flat pass, who proved the creator, sending Mike Worrincy powering through on a great angle from ten metres out.

It was the second-rower’s ninth try of the season and came at just the right time.

Deacon improved the 28th-minute score and the little scrum half darted over for their second with a brilliant effort just six minutes later.

Glenn Morrison started the move on halfway, slipping Menzies half through on an inside pass.

The Aussie then produced a classic off-load back to Morrison, who sped on, drew Jordan Tansey and sent Deacon haring towards the line.

He didn’t look like he’d have the legs as the cover encroached from all angles but he threw a dummy, stepped back inside and then dived for the whitewash becoming the second Bull to see some claret in the process.

Deacon slotted the extras to put his side 12-6 up at the break and put them further in front with a penalty on 54 minutes.

Seventeen-year-old James Donaldson came off the bench to get his second Super League try just before the hour mark.

Menzies had streaked through down the middle off Burgess’ excellent set-move pass. He couldn’t find Morrison in support – mainly because of the positioning of referee Richard Silverwood – and was hauled down by Richard Whiting.

But Sykes made sure they got in at the next attempt, his pass giving Nero the chance to go close before squeezing out a pass to the youngster.

Deacon couldn’t convert but at 18-6 the visitors were all set to push on.

But Hull – who had won just once in their last five games – then came to life.

Tansey angled across the field, teasing defenders before straightening up and sending former Bull Lee Radford to the line on 61 minutes.

That prompted the first flare-up as furious Hull players claimed Donaldson came in late with his knees as Radford scored.

Tickle improved and soon after Briscoe was in for a controversial second.

After Hull off-loaded aplenty deep in their own half, the ball went wide where Whiting – with a blatant forward pass – put Briscoe in the clear.

Sykes managed to race across and claw the teenager down near the touchline but Briscoe got back up and dashed to the line.

The tackle looked complete as Briscoe’s ball-carrying arm hit the deck and Sykes still had a hand on him but the video referee ruled otherwise and Tickle curled in the conversion to level the game at 18-18.

It blew up again though after Epalahame Lauaki took offence to a Morrison challenge, causing another ruck where players piled in.

Silverwood awarded the penalty to Hull and from the tap restart the Lauaki marched it in. Morrison met him with a fearsome tackle – and everyone was in again.

The Aussie, playing his last Bulls game, was yellow carded this time, although the initial contact did look below the neck and it was a harsh way to end his fine career with Bradford.

Hull pressed but couldn’t get the score they needed and Deacon held his cool to slot a brilliant 45-metre drop goal with seven minutes to go before adding a penalty with the last kick of the match.