Bradford Bulls 32, Halifax 19

TALK about a game of two halves.

The Bulls were shocking during the opening 40 minutes last night as Halifax established a 13-2 lead.

It was the least that Richard Marshall's men deserved in the first league meeting between these old enemies since 2003.

The part-timers roused themselves in spectacular fashion with a first-half display which raised all manner of questions about the Bulls.

This was a derby, the renewal of a rivalry which has seen plenty of blood, sweat and tears spilt down the years.

The Bulls themselves had billed the match as 'Friday Night Fight Night' and 'The Battle for West Yorkshire'.

Somebody really should have passed the message on to Jimmy Lowes' players.

They were fairly awful and were guilty of numerous handling errors during the opening 40 minutes.

Halifax – physically imposing and clinical with the chances that came their way – scored with tries from Mitch Cahalane and Ross Divorty.

A penalty from Ryan Shaw, who had just returned from the sin-bin for a professional foul, got the Bulls off the mark on the stroke of half-time.

That made it 13-2 and whatever Lowes said to his men during the interval clearly worked a treat as they produced a second-half fightback which yielded five tries and 30 points.

Lowes made a triple substitution and within nine minutes of the restart, three tries had put the Bulls in control.

It inspired a remarkable momentum shift as Danny Williams, Jay Pitts and Lee Gaskell all touched down, before Adam Henry and Shaw applied further scores.

It was fitting that the Bulls should register a victory in the week that marked the ten-year anniversary of the death of the legendary Trevor Foster.

Goodness only knows where the club would be right now had Foster – who died in the Bradford Royal Infirmary aged 90 on April 2, 2005 – not played such a pivotal role in helping Northern to reform in 1964.

Trevor's son Simon and several other members of the Foster family were guests of the Bulls last night in recognition of his immeasurable contribution to the club.

Simon told some lovely tales about his dad in the conference and banqueting stand before last night's match; stories which epitomised the heart of the club which still beats so strongly today.

There was no shortage of quality in the Halifax side, with a number of seasoned Championship performers complemented by ex-Super League men such as Scott Murrell, Luke Ambler and Richard Moore.

Moore, who progressed through the junior ranks at Odsal and played alongside Lowes in the all-conquering Bradford side of yesteryear, started at loose forward.

Adam Sidlow was back for the Bulls to replace Samir Tahraoui in the front row, while Shaw deputised for the injured Jake Mullaney at full back and Chris Ulugia was afforded a starting berth on the right wing.

But the earlier rain ensured the pitch was not conducive to free-flowing rugby and chances were scarce during a balanced opening.

What quickly became apparent was that Halifax were up for this match in a big way.

Ambler, a Halifax lad, had spoken of the "hatred" in the town for the Bulls and his team's performance proved he was not kidding.

The Ireland international, along with Moore, Cahalane, Ben Kaye – and, indeed, the rest of the Halifax pack – revelled in the conditions.

Their dominance up front afforded Murrell the space and time to play ... and how he took advantage.

Both Fax's tries came from astute offloads from the ex-Hull KR man, who also kicked intelligently out of hand and, in fact, booted the Bulls to death at times.

Bradford, on the other hand, struggled badly to find any kind of fluency and were consistently undone by handling errors.

The early field position was in the Bulls' favour but they could find no way past an obstinate Halifax rearguard.

Marshall's men threw their bodies on the line time and again, which gradually forced them upfield and allowed them to ask some questions of their own. Questions, in fact, to which the Bulls had no answer.

The opening blow came in the 12th minute following an horrendous blunder from Ulugia on the edge of his own 20-metre line.

Halifax swiftly punished the error, with a formidable drive from Ambler driving the Bulls back further before Murrell showed intelligence to send Cahalane bustling over on the next tackle.

Soon after, Alex Brown went close in the left corner before another teasing kick from Murrell narrowly evaded Steve Tyrer in the same spot.

The Bulls then enjoyed a spell of pressure which saw Adam O'Brien brilliantly collect Pitts' delicate offload before driving at the heart of the Halifax defence.

He spotted Ulugia in support and the winger's progress was halted, earning the Bulls a penalty which came to nothing.

Bulls v Halifax match pictures

Midway through the first half, O'Brien was caught late by Dane Manning but referee Matt Thomason failed to award even a yellow card.

Henry then knocked on ten metres from the Halifax line before the Bulls were reduced to 12 men when Shaw saw yellow for holding down Gareth Potts.

The Halifax winger had embarked on a stunning break from deep and, after Shaw was sent to the cooler, the visitors struck again when another perfectly-timed pass from Murrell sent Divorty galloping under the posts.

Murrell then added a drop-goal to make it 13-0 before Shaw returned to boot a penalty prior to the break after O'Brien had again been caught late.

At the start of the second half, Paul Clough, Epalahame Lauaki and Jean-Philippe Baile replaced Sidlow, Ulugia and Dan Fleming.

Within two minutes, Williams expertly finished in the left corner after Gaskell and Adrian Purtell had combined to find him.

Two minutes later and Pitts showed his predatory instinct to latch on to Gaskell's clever chip and touch down.

It was now one-way traffic and Gaskell, typically at the heart of the fightback, was soon on hand to touch down himself after taking O'Brien's short pass from close range.

Life gradually drained from Halifax and the Bulls' fourth try arrived when Henry showed impressive pace and strength to ground Gaskell's kick in the right corner.

Ben Heaton responded with a breakaway score, racing deep from inside his own half to touch down under the posts, but Shaw then pounced on a loose ball to score again for the hosts late on.

Attendance: 6,134