BULLS 14 ROCHDALE 22

IF THE Bulls didn’t know they were in a relegation battle for this season, they do now.

The first home game of the year ended in disappointing defeat against a side they realistically will need to overhaul to stay in the division.

It wasn’t just the bitter weather that left a decent-sized Odsal crowd shivering but the cold reality of the huge task their inexperienced side will face from here on in. The size of the points deduction they must overcome will have really hit home.

The Hornets now have a 16-point cushion on a Bradford side who battled gamely before tiring towards the end in the sapping conditions. Too many errors proved their undoing.

On paper, Rochdale’s first visit for more than a quarter of a century hardly registered when compared with some of the titanic clashes Odsal has hosted in that time.

But nobody was playing down the significance of the occasion.

Many had feared, with good reason over the last few months of financial turmoil, whether the Bulls would step out at Odsal again – certainly this season anyway.

So to see them back in action on home soil was a special event, regardless of who they were up against.

Leon Pryce was the only player in the Bulls side who had been born when Rochdale lost 23-16 last time out at Odsal in 1991.

But the Hornets had stirred up the nest with coach Alan Kilshaw’s pre-match dig at the Bulls.

Kilshaw said “people were bored with the Bradford situation now” and his sympathies lie with Workington and Whitehaven who had stuck to their budget and gone down rather than the re-formed club.

But the Bulls would not have needed any added incentive from his incendiary comments as they began the daunting task of chipping away at that 12-point deduction.

For Pryce, it was a landmark moment to lead out his local club at Odsal in his first home match since 2005.

And Geoff Toovey got his first glimpse of competitive action at home – even if the new coach-in-waiting was once again reduced to a watching role as he waits for the working visa that will allow him to take up the post properly.

The weather could not have been further removed from the Manly coast of Sydney where Toovey forged his stellar career. But at least the snow stopped right on cue in time for kick-off.

Leigh Beattie, who took the reins once again, made only one change in the starting 13 from the whole-hearted effort at Hull KR as Jon Magrin came in for Ross Peltier at prop. The average age of his fresh-faced line-up remained just over 21.

And they made the perfect start with Oscar Thomas following in his own grubber kick to score near the posts inside two minutes – although he did miss the extras.

Errors played their part early on in the slippery conditions but the Bulls criminally conceded possession on the first tackle in front of their own posts.

That handed the initiative to Rochdale and former Halifax fullback Miles Greenwood then ploughed through a gap in defence to score, Lewis Palfrey’s conversion nosing the visitors in front.

Another Palfrey penalty for interference extended the Hornets’ lead in what was quickly becoming an old-fashioned battle of heart rather than finesse.

Peltier’s introduction from the bench beefed up the home side and Colton Roche lifted the mood with a real willingness to get stuck in.

But it was Thomas who set up the second try with a kick and bounce that popped up for James Bentley to score his first for the Bulls. The full back this time made no mistake with the two-pointer.

Rochdale had not anticipated the home resistance and tempers started to flare. That boiled over when Jo Taira took out the play-maker Jordan Lilley with a late hit which saw the substitute sin-binned.

Thomas chipped the penalty to give the Bulls a four-point advantage going into the break of a fiery encounter. Beattie and Toovey would have been pleased with the commitment from their young lads although the Hornets were doing themselves no favours by coughing up cheap penalties.

That trend continued from the restart and Taira, having just come back from his cooling-off spell on the sidelines, was penalised once more. Thomas again stepped up with the kick to make it 14-8.

But the icy ball was still causing problems and the full back spilled a deep kick to give Rochdale possession in a great scoring position.

Scrambling defence prevented Lewis Galbraith going over in the corner. But battering ram Samir Tahraoui took matters into his own hands to force his way in by the posts, Palfrey’s kick levelling it up again.

Thomas produced a try-saving tackle as the Hornets camped on the home line. But the bigger and stronger visitors were not to be denied and Danny Bridge went in on the left from a Danny Yates short pass.

Palfrey missed for the first time with the goal and that lifted the crowd, who were all under cover with the terraces shut off because of safety concerns.

A bomb from Lilley put the Hornets under pressure before a knock-on near the line ended that attack. Then it was Lilley’s turn to gather a grubber kick in front of his own posts and prevent a fourth Rochdale try.

The Bulls were struggling to hold off the increasingly determined opposition who sensed a second successive win since promotion was in their grasp.

Palfrey had proved pretty consistent with the boot and he was on the money again with a fourth kick to ease the Hornets 20-14 in front.

Joshua Jordan-Roberts committed a costly knock-on with the Bulls midway inside the Rochdale half. The conditions were continuing to play their part with the number of dropped balls.

Yates went for the killer drop goal with seven minutes left – but his effort bounced back off the upright. Pryce claimed the rebound and was hit high in the process.

That kept the Bulls alive but, one frantic kick and chase apart, they could not engineer another attacking opportunity in the closing minutes.

Palfrey claimed another two points with one last penalty on the hooter as a valiant home effort finished empty-handed.