BULLS 37 YORK 18

On a raucous Sunday afternoon at Odsal in front of a packed crowd, Bulls marked their homecoming with a fine victory over York.

John Kear's side made it six wins in a row to delight most of the 3,742 fans in attendance, with the narrow pitch not proving a problem.

Bulls said goodbye to Odsal in September 2019 with an emotional 30-10 victory over Sheffield, but just 636 days later, they were back.

Last Monday's homecoming announcement meant excitement had been at fever pitch throughout the week in the city, and Bulls channelled that energy into a fine early score from Joe Brown.

After York's Jack Teanby was held up over the line, Bulls put together their first sustained attack and took a slight risk by going for it on the last tackle

Danny Brough drove forward, and quick hands down the left saw the ball go through Ross Oakes and Brandon Pickersgill.

The latter found Brown, who sidestepped the last man to score in the corner, with Brough adding the extras.

But York hit straight back. After a lucky kick off struck the goalposts, York found themselves in good field position.

The ball was eventually lofted out to the left towards Kieran Dixon by Brendan O'Hagan, and the winger plucked the ball out of the air and touched down in the corner despite pressure from Mitiele Vulukijapani.

Dixon's brilliant kick from the touchline levelled matters, but when he dropped a high kick near his own posts, the York recovery saw them penalised for offside, and Brough knocked over to make it 8-6.

When Pickersgill's grubber through bounced fortunately for the visitors, O'Hagan led the charge down the wing, and when he found the supporting Dixon, a score looked certain.

But Brown flew back to make a stunning try-saving tackle, which was greeted with a roar from the crowd and his teammates.

Jordan Lilley then increased the Bulls lead. He darted back on the inside from about 15 metres out, weaved his way through a couple of despairing tackles and went over by the posts.

Brough converted to make it 14-6 before another penalty for offside against York saw him convert for a 10-point lead.

But after Brad England was controversially penalised despite a York knock on, the visitors gained good territory, leading to the experienced Ryan Atkins spinning over for a try despite a couple of Bulls players at his back. Dixon converted to make it 16-12.

Ashton Golding came on for his Bulls debut and immediately showed his Super League class with a score.

England made good gains but there was still plenty to do when Golding picked up 12 metres out, but the Huddersfield loanee barged his way through three tackles to go over.

Brough converted that, then knocked over a penalty on the hooter to give Bulls a 24-12 lead.

It was a quiet start to the second half, though Brown was fortunate York knocked on when he coughed the ball up in front of his own posts, and thought he'd let Matty Marsh in to score.

But he was soon back in the good books.

Pickersgill just got the ball out to Brown on the left before he was flattened on the last tackle. With a two-on-one situation, the winger flicked the ball inside to Oakes, who strolled over for a converted score.

York were getting plenty of the ball but failing to make the most of it. Things got worse for them when Rhys Evans intercepted a pass and charged down the field.

Though he and Vulukijapani couldn't quite work a score between them, Bulls had gained vital yards, and that all ended with Brough kicking a simple drop goal.

York gave themselves a sniff when Mikey Lewis flicked a nice flat pass inside and found his captain Chris Clarkson running on to it, who flew through a big gap to go over from 15 metres out for a converted score.

But, in what was the story of their game, they coughed up possession in a decent attacking position with eight minutes to go.

Bulls worked their way up the pitch slowly before Brough bombed a high kick miles in their air, causing major confusion in the York in-goal area.

Brown reacted quickest to grab the ball and touch down, with Brough easily adding the extras.

That was the end of the scoring at 37-18, as Bradford came home in style.

BULLS: Pickersgill, Brown, R. Evans, Oakes, Vulukijapani, Brough, Lilley, Fleming, Doyle, Crossley, England, Murphy, B. Evans. Interchange: Scurr, Robson, Wilson, Golding.

YORK: Lewis, Jones-Bishop, Salter, Atkins, Dixon, Marsh, O’Hagan, Teanby, Jubb, Baldwinson, Scott, Kirmond, Clarkson. Interchange: Brining, Green, Stock, Cuthbertson.

BULLS MAN OF THE MATCH: Joe Brown