Bradford Bulls 28, Salford City Reds 14

The wait is over. After six games and 56 days, the Bulls finally picked up their fifth win of the Super League campaign, snapping a miserable barren streak.

Fitting too that it should come against Salford. The City Reds dished out Bradford’s greatest embarrassment early in their winless run, delivering a 56-16 spanking at The Willows on an afternoon that will rank high among Mick Potter’s worst nightmares.

The Bulls boss has been unable to forget that horror show since and, on this evidence, neither have his players.

Motivation was clearly not a problem and Kyle Briggs’ try within the opening six minutes established a lead that was never relinquished.

This was not a beating on a par with the one previously handed out by Salford but the result was certainly never in doubt, despite a few jitters during the visitors’ second-half purple patch.

Ben Jeffries has made an instant impact since his return from Wakefield and the team are clearly becoming ever more comfortable being led round the pitch by the Aussie and half-back partner Briggs.

Their control and composure was supplemented by star turns off the bench from Tom Burgess and Heath L’Estrange to provide plenty to enjoy for the home faithful.

The Bulls’ defence passed an early examination, holding out well after conceding an early penalty at marker. That effort provided the platform and the confidence Bradford needed to get at it up the other end of the pitch.

A half-break from Shad Royston got them onto the front foot before a superbly-executed attacking move split the Salford defence wide open.

Olivier Elima took the short pass from Jeffries to send Royston away with a well-timed inside ball and Briggs popped up on his shoulder to take the scoring pass. Right in front of the posts, Patrick Ah Van had no problem adding the extras.

But despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession and territory, the Bulls found it tough to add to their tally.

Ah Van came close, dragging three City Reds with him on a powerful run towards the line, while Jeffries was halted after taking on the line and scything through a narrow gap.

Elliott Whitehead also had a try chalked off, touching down only after he had knocked on a pass from Briggs as another golden opportunity went begging.

Instead, Salford stayed solid, even while conceding two penalties in quick succession, and hit back to cut the deficit to two.

Luke Patten created the opportunity with a typically impressive piece of skill, flipping an offload out the back to Mark Henry, who stepped inside Paul Sykes to dash home from 30 metres.

But Bradford maintained composure and, energised by the arrival of L’Estrange and Burgess from the bench, got an unstoppable roll on.

Teenage prop Burgess made two devastating bursts and L’Estrange thrived on quick play-the-ball to create his side’s second try.

The livewire hooker faked right but instead looked outside to Jeffries, whose cut-out pass provided Sykes with a stroll to the corner.

That was only the start as Bradford proceeded to make their clear dominance count, running in three tries in the final ten minutes of the first half.

L’Estrange was next to cross the whitewash, squirming through the defence from dummy half following another impressive charge from Burgess.

Try number four came a minute before the break, thanks mainly to a dazzling break from Craig Kopczak.

There did not seem much on when the prop dropped back to collect a loose pass from L’Estrange but he showed speed of thought and foot to beat three defenders and get a one-handed offload away to Royston.

The Aussie full back found his own path to the line blocked but Jeffries was on hand to score his first try since returning to the club from Wakefield.

Ah Van converted each of the final two tries to establish an 18-point cushion at half-time.

But despite early promise in the second half, the Bulls completely failed to build on their advantage.

Burgess was denied a deserved try when he was judged to have knocked the ball forward before grounding it in Salford’s in-goal area and the visitors suddenly came alive.

Their revival was as much a result of the Bulls’ poor defence as it was the City Reds’ own ability but either way, the lead was cut right back.

A 40-20 kick from Matty Smith was the spark Salford needed, providing the impetus for them to score twice in the space of six minutes.

Holdsworth and Patten combined to send Henry in at the corner for the first and Patten was central to the second too, his neat offload creating the space for Henry to complete his hat-trick.

Nerves became extremely frayed and a few of Bradford’s recent insecurities were unearthed by the opposition’s adventurous approach.

Royston was forced to concede a drop-out from a dangerous grubber by Holdsworth but the Bulls were able to stand firm and a knock-on from Henry provided a welcome let-off.

It seemed Salford’s chance had passed and those suspicions were confirmed when Briggs claimed the killer try.

Taking a pass from Jeffries, he ducked under one tackle, stepped through another and jinked his way over the line, Ah Van converting.

The Bulls looked set to provide a final flourish but a string of chances were allowed to slip away.

Burgess was held up over the line during a frantic sequence of play while Elima was left flat out on the turf and Whitehead was denied by referee Richard Silverwood for a second time when he was judged offside chasing a Briggs grubber.

It mattered little. Bradford comfortably finished the job, jumping from 12th to ninth in the Super League standings.

Attendance: 12,487