GEORGE Flanagan believes 'nilling' Batley highlighted Bulls' togetherness after a difficult period.

Bradford beat local rivals Bulldogs 16-0 on home turf in a welcome return to winning ways following four defeats in a row.

It was the first time John Kear's men have kept a clean sheet this season and Flanagan insists it shows morale has remained strong.

He said: "We didn't have much ball, but all I can say about our team is the togetherness in defence and the willingness in defence.

"I think in that last 20 minutes all we did was defend.

"Batley throw a lot of shape at you - they've got some big middles, some tough middles in there.

"We knew with their half-backs, with (Louis) Jouffret and Dom Brambini, they were going to throw a lot at us, and James Brown with his offload game near to the line.

"They were close to getting over.

"But credit to our lads, we stuck by it, stuck with that defensive attitude.

"We spoke about it all week, we need to turn up with the correct attitude and on Sunday we did."

Batley had the lion's share of possession throughout the game, but couldn't make it tell.

That was thanks in part to the resolute defensive effort from the Bulls.

Flanagan said: "I just wanted to see what tackle it was and I kept on thinking, is it the fifth yet, is it the fifth yet.

"We did that many tackles, I just didn't keep track of the tackles.

"But, they threw everything at us on that line.

"They had us trapped in our own 20 for a good period in that second half there.

"We just didn't break, scrambled to everything, there were no lazy efforts.

"To nil a team like Batley anyway is a great achievement."

After their recent slump, it would be easy for the Bulls to slip into a negative mentality.

They were without their main leader and captain Steve Crossley on Sunday, who dropped out due to illness.

But, Flanagan feels the Bradford boys pulled together well and their togetherness has helped them through, despite admitting he missed his "mate" during the game.

He added: "The last three weeks has been tough, tough for us as players.

"But we all understand each other.

"That's one thing about this group. We all have a chat with each other, whether with helping each other out, or giving each other guidance across the park.

"That's something we spoke about for the last three weeks - we need to get back on the wagon.

"Look what we did on Sunday. We've turned up and 'nilled' a Championship opposition - it's no easy feat.

"Hopefully now we can kick on and concentrate on this league and get in that top five."

Meanwhile, Bulls youngster Cobi Green has been named in the Wales Students squad for the Four Nations competition at Edinburgh University from June 22-30.

Green, who impressed for Bradford in their 1895 Cup defeat at Barrow last week, is a student at Leeds Beckett University.