Bulls 22, Rhinos 20: At last, the memories of Old Trafford and St Helens can be buried.

The Bulls renewed their love affairs with finals, completing a dramatic 22-20 victory over Yorkshire rivals Leeds to give Brian Noble his first Challenge Cup as coach or player.

More than 70,000 fans were treated to the tightest of games as Bradford sneaked past their neighbours for the third time in three finals spanning more than 50 years. In doing so they became the first team to get their hands on the prestigious trophy in three different countries, England, Scotland and now Wales, in the most dramatic fashion.

First-half tries by Lesley Vainikolo and Robbie Paul were matched by those of man of the match Gary Connolly and Chris McKenna. Level at the break, a second-half score by Jamie Peacock, playing with padding on his hand and knee, and a Paul Deacon penalty separated the two teams and Bradford were triumphant despite a farcical finale to the match.

Yorkshire emptied for the day as more than 70,000 took to the sun-bathed streets of Cardiff for this eagerly-awaited clash.

Early-morning congestion on the M42 was expected but there were certainly a few surprises when the line-ups were announced inside the eerie atmoshpere of a roofed Millennium Stadium at 2pm.

Mick Withers failed to make it after a week of fighting a groin injury, meaning skipper Robbie Paul taking up what many regard as his best position at full back.

This meant Scott Naylor was handed a final jersey with Richard Moore the unfortunate one from the 19-man squad, the young prop axed in favour of promoting the vastly-experienced Danny Gartner to the front row.

Meanwhile Leeds took a massive risk by naming Matt Adamson, playing with a plate in a fractured cheekbone, in their second row with Danny McGuire the surprise casualty.

The noise was deafening as the rerun of the 2000 final kicked off and the Bulls nearly got their dream start. Ryan Bailey was forced to spill the ball in a three-man tackle and Lee Radford romped home from 40 yards to cross the line within 90 seconds.

But the first of four visits to the video booth ruled out the score after an excruciatingly long wait. Despite that score being disallowed, Bradford worked hard to continue their dominance with some astute Jimmy Lowes kicking forcing succesive drop-outs after strong chases by Tevita Vaikona and Jamie Peacock.

And on the fourth consecutive set, Brian Noble's team broke the deadlock. A superb off-load by Joe Vagana gave Vaikona the opportunity to break the line and skipper Robbie Paul collected the ball on the inside to dash over. Paul Deacon converted to give the Bulls their 200th point of this year's Powergen Challenge Cup campaign.

But within five minutes the scores were level after the video referee gave the nod to Gary Connolly after Peacock and Deacon looked to have held him short and forced a double movement from the veteran full back, Kevin Sinfield kicking the goal.

Dave Furner's score five minutes later was ruled out for crossing, and the Bulls regained the lead through a penalty after 19 minutes when Barrie McDermott took out emergency prop Gartner off the ball, Deacon stroking home from 37 metres in front of the boisterous Leeds faithful.

But a Lowes double penalty, firstly for ripping out the ball from opposing hooker Matt Diskin and then for dissent, gave Sinfield the simplest of kicks from close range and under the sticks to even things up at 8-8.

The Rhinos then seemed to step up a gear, and with the Bulls making some uncharacteristic errors, it was no suprise when the men in yellow took the lead.

Mark Calderwood beat Lesley Vainikolo to a bomb and the video referee ruled that Chris McKenna had got the ball down from the subsequent knock-back despite the best efforts of Shontayne Hape, Sinfield kicking the goal.

But Bradford nerves were settled just before the break when Vainikolo atoned for his error.

Deacon, clearly after another man of the match award after picking up the gong in last October's Grand Final, broke to the left, performed a quick interchange with Hape before flicking through a kick. Out of nowhere the giant Tongan appeared to dive on the ball for his sixth try of the competition. With no wind to upset him, Deacon slotted over from the touchline to even things up at 14-14 to set a blockbuster of a second half.

HT: 14-14

Brian Noble presumably gave his usual half time talk as the Bulls started the second period as they have done every other game this year - on fire.

Within three minutes Jamie Peacock had gone over for his first try of the season in the corner. The video referee once again confirming the score. Deacon made no mistake and the Bulls were six points ahead once more.

Then came the almost compulsory moment of controversy in the final. Sinfield launched an enormous roof-threatening kick which led to a straight foot-race between the Volcano and Calderwood. The big Bradford man dived full length and looked to have brought down the Leeds winger just in front of the ball. The Rhinos faithful bayed for a penalty but the referee played on and Peacock was there to mop up for a drop-out.

The Bulls then suffered a blow of their own, Lowes left the field, worryingly clutching his back, to be replaced by Karl Pratt, the utility back coming on against the club that axed him.

The Bulls moved more than a score ahead after 53 minutes, the first side to do so in this enthralling match-up, when Deacon knocked over from 15 metres after a multiple off-side to make it 22-14.

Determined not to make their 13th cup final appearance an unlucky one, Bradford surged on but a loose pass on the hour mark by Lee Gilmour cost Bradford dear. Keith Senior, the last man you want to make an interception, did just that and broke upfield. Gilmour surprisingly caught him, but the Rhinos were on the attack.

A clever off-load by Barrie Mc Dermott caught out Vagana and Furner beat Paul to cross. Sinfield added the extras to bring it back to a two point gap at 22-20 to Bradford - with 18 minutes to go it was anyone's game.

Despite the roof and the massive crowd, there was a surprising quiet at times as both sets of fans began to feel the nerves.

Paul, excelling at full back, conceded yet another drop-out with six minutes left after a Dunemann kick. And then with five minutes to go, Leeds made an amazingly brave decision.

A Diskin grubber was knocked on by Paul and when it was picked up by Hape, Leeds had a penalty just metres out.

But rather than going for the score-equalling kick, they decided to go for the more cavalier option of going for the four points. Vital last-gasp defence kept them out and the Bulls had possession with only minutes remaining, and vitally, a two-point lead.

And the they survived another scare with less than three minutes to go when Paul nutmegged himself trying to deal with another testing Sinfield kick. Fortunately for the Bulls, the skipper dived on the loose ball.

And the game ended in farcical fashion due to the intensity of the noise. A countdown from the Bulls fans got to zero and the players celebrated their victory.

But the hooter, not that you would have heard it, had not sounded. In the subsequent keffufle, stadium staff began bringing on the platform for the presentations while the Bulls still had some defending to do.

They survived a drop-out with no one knowing how long was left.

But the travelling faithful were put out of their misery and the victory was complete.

Leon Pryce dived into the crowd and Lowes went over to salute them after a glorious afternoon of indoor rugby had ended.

What a stadium, what a day.