The Bulls broke their Super League duck after grinding out a win against Crusaders.

Having suffered defeats to Leeds and Wigan in their opening two games, Mick Potter's side finally got it right in north Wales.

A 40-metre break from debutant Shaun Ainscough got Bradford going and Bryn Hargreaves fed Andy Lynch for the opening try, Patrick Ah Van adding the extras.

But Crusaders hit back after Ainscough knocked on from a 20-metre restart, Michael Witt touching down and Clinton Schifcofske kicking the conversion.

The Bulls survived another couple of worrying moments, notably when Adam Peek knocked on with open field ahead of him, before surging back in front.

Stand-in scrum half Danny Addy produced a good bit of work when the ball was shipped wide, turning back inside to find Shad Royston, who spun to score. Ah Van's kick opened the gap to six.

Then a thrilling sequence of off-the-cuff rugby resulted in a third try, Danny Addy, Michael Platt and Royston all throwing the ball around on the final tackle before Ainscough touched down. Ah Van once more converted.

Matt Diskin sparked a thrilling second half by powering over from dummy half within a minute of the restart, Ah Van converting.

Crusaders replied with a well-taken try by Gareth Thomas but the former rugby union star then came up with the error to hand Heath L'Estrange an easy score, Ah Van converting.

The Bulls seemed to have it wrapped up but another monumental shift in momentum resulted in an interesting finale.

Jarrod Sammut stepped through a gap to score ten minutes from time, schifcofske adding the conversion before scoring a controversial try himself that was given by the video referee after he appeared to be held up.

But the gap proved too much and Tony Martin's last-minute try, converted by Schifcofske, came too late.

Bulls: Shad Royston; Shaun Ainscough, Michael Platt, Patrick Ah Van, Gareth Raynor; Brett Kearney, Danny Addy; Bryn Hargreaves, Heath L'Estrange, Andy Lynch, Chev Walker, Elliott Whitehead, Olivier Elima. Interchange: Craig Kopczak, Matt Diskin, Nick Scruton, Tom Olbison.

Crusaders: Clinton Schifcofske; Stuart Reardon, Tony Martin, Gareth Thomas, Rhys Williams; Michael Witt, Jarrod Sammut; Ryan O'Hara, Lincoln Withers, Mark Bryant, Peter Lupton, Jason Chan, Ben Flower. Interchange: Richard Moore, Jordan James, Adam Peek, Gil Dudson.