Bradford Bulls 18 Featherstone Rovers 37

IF there were doubts about the Bulls’ ability to win promotion beforehand, there will be many now ready to write off their hopes altogether.

Part-time Featherstone, missing half a dozen first-choice players, gave Jimmy Lowes’ men the harshest lesson imaginable.

They were superior from start to finish, embarrassing the Bulls with four superbly-worked tries to lead 22-6 at the break.

Rovers winger Jy Hitchcox should take a bow after completing a clinical hat-trick on the left flank.

But the defending from Bradford ranged from shoddy to non-existent when Renu Maitua galloped through the home defence for a fourth in the 32nd minute.

As if inspired by Maitua, Ben Blackmore similarly rode roughshod through the home rearguard for another long-range effort five minutes after the interval.

This wasn’t a performance from the Bulls – it was a suicide note and easily their worst display of the season.

Bradford have been scraping wins against the likes of Whitehaven, Workington, Dewsbury and Batley for a few weeks now.

Last night they were finally exposed.

You simply cannot expect to compete for promotion when performing for 15 minutes here and 20 minutes there.

That failure to conjure the kind of consistency required for an 80-minute performance came back to haunt them against a team who look well-placed to finish in the middle eights.

This error-strewn defeat marked the end of the Bulls’ 17-match winning run in the Championship and left Leigh as firm favourites to finish top.

Many of the Rovers players would have been working in their day jobs in the sweltering heat before arriving at Odsal.

But they appeared faster, sharper and simply more aggressive than their full-time hosts.

Featherstone coach Andy Hay neatly summed it up beforehand when talking about the disparity between his club and the Bulls.

“The pressure is on them,” said Hay.

“They are the team who are expected to bounce back into Super League.

“They are full-time and they’ve got a massive squad. They are spending up to the salary cap and we are nowhere near it.”

Featherstone had won their last three games and racked up 148 points in the process – not a record to be sniffed at.

They made the trip along the M62 knowing that another victory would lift them into the top four.

But they were also far from at full strength, with men such as Gareth Moore, Paul Cooke, Will Sharp, Paul Wood and Garreth Carvell all absent.

Nevertheless, they were able to include players such as Jordan Baldwinson, Thomas Minns and Alex Foster, all of whom progressed through the Leeds academy, and former Bulls star Paul Sykes, who enjoyed his Odsal return.

Adam Henry knocked on for the Bulls from their decent spell of possession and Featherstone’s early vibrancy reaped its rewards in the fourth minute.

Rovers worked the ball cleverly across the face of the Bulls’ defence in a fine handling sequence which culminated in Minns finding Hitchcox advancing at pace on the left touchline.

Hitchcock finished superbly for a try which Sykes could not convert from the touchline.

The Bulls looked to fashion the right response but, after forcing the visitors to drop out, which came to nothing, they shipped a second try.

It was an effort right out of the top drawer as Minns broke brilliantly inside the left channel from just inside his own half.

He left a clutch of Bradford defenders for dead before showing intelligence to find Hitchcox with a perfectly-timed inside pass and the winger scampered clear for his second.

This time Sykes was able to convert from a central position and Featherstone were 10-0 with less than ten minutes played, much to the disgust of Bulls chairman Marc Green, watching from the balcony of the conference and banqueting stand.

Goodness only knows what Lowes’ reaction was, particularly when Danny Addy contrived to kick out on the full from the restart.

The Bulls were forced to defend their line and, when a grubber kick from the returning Harry Siejka forced a drop-out, Featherstone showed similar aggression to keep their hosts at bay.

But, after scrum half Remy Marginet knocked on inside his own half, the Bulls got off the mark as James Mendeika supported an attack well from full back to plunge over the line from close range.

The try from the former Featherstone man came after Adam O’Brien had gone close and then Adam Sidlow had been held up over the line.

But if the home supporters believed it was the calayst for their team to take control, they were wrong.

The hosts were again undone by basic handling errors, none more so than when Tom Olbison fumbled possession on the edge of his own 20-metre line.

Featherstone smelt blood and went for the kill as the ball went through several pairs of hands, with Hitchcox again on hand to finish with deadly aplomb in the left corner.

That 30th-minute score was added to two minutes later when second-rower Maitua collected possession 40 metres out and incredibly – inexplicably – sauntered through a gaping hole to score.

He had few problems holding off Mendeika, the Bulls’ last line of defence, to score and Sykes converted to make it 22-6.

Moments later, a promising Bradford attack was ended when Mendeika’s pass, intended for Danny Williams on the left flank, flew horribly into touch.

Mendeika held his head in his hands, but it should have been worse as Hitchcox narrowly failed to take Andy Ellis’ pass less than 20 metres out.

Shaw missed a penalty from halfway on the stroke of half-time as Featherstone went in at the break with a 22-6 advantage.

It was no more than they deserved.

Featherstone were put on a team warning for holding down but they withstood their early pressure and struck a fifth try in the 45th minute through winger Ben Blackmore.

Collecting possession around 45 metres out, Blackmore spotted a gap in the Bulls’ defence, went through it and easily outstripped Mendeika for another brilliant individual effort.

A mix-up between Sykes and Ian Hardman saw the ball run loose in the 55th minute and replacement Chev Walker touched down easily.

Shaw’s conversion made it 28-12 and encouraged hopes of a comeback but, after local lad Jack Ormondroyd came off the bench, Sykes booted a penalty to stretch Rovers’ lead before Marginet added a drop goal.

When hooker Andy Ellis dived over from acting half with six minutes remaining, hundreds of Bradford supporters began heading for the exits.

Mendeika touched down a kick late on but was no consolation – not when the Bulls had long since surrendered the points.