HALIFAX 24 BULLS 21

A SENSATIONAL West Yorkshire derby, full of blood and thunder and no shortage of good rugby league, saw Halifax came out on top at the Shay Stadium yesterday afternoon.

In a topsy-turvy clash, Bulls gifted Fax three soft first half-tries, but Tom Doyle’s score just before the hooter left the away side only four points behind.

Brad England and Joe Brown soon helped Bradford increase their lead to six, but controversial late tries from Liam Harris and James Saltonstall sealed a narrow home win for Fax, with the defeat dropping the visitors to fifth in the Championship.

It was a nightmare start for Bulls, as Halifax captain Brandon Moore broke through some sloppy defence in the middle.

Brandon Pickersgill came to meet him, but he flicked it left to James Woodburn-Hall, who despite a desperate late attempt from the Bulls defence, crashed over by the posts for a converted score.

But Bulls soon made the most of a set of six by the line following a penalty for a high shot on Anthony Walker.

They worked it from left to right, and Brown found Pickersgill, who crashed between two defenders to go over.

Sam Hallas, a surprise choice to kick given Jordan Lilley was back in the side ahead of schedule, fired his conversion attempt just wide.

Saltonstall then had an effort ruled out for offside, before a loose ball from a Bulls error on halfway was picked up by Ben Kavanagh and he darted through the middle.

That left Bulls out of shape defensively, and the hosts had numbers out on the left, with Greg Worthington strolling in for an easy score.

Bulls were now 10-4 down, but making a good break up the left, before Pickersgill’s risky ball out wide was reeled in by a stretching Saltonstall, who simply had to make the catch ahead of David Foggin-Johnston.

He just kept control and raced through to score unchallenged in the right corner.

Halifax wasted a couple of good attacking positions trying to increase their lead, and that proved crucial as Bulls hit back seconds before the break.

A slow move eventually paid off, with Walker sucking in defenders, before Doyle received the ball and scurried over by the posts to reduce the deficit, with Hallas’ kick making it a four-point game.

Bulls raced out of the blocks in the second half, and made the most of the penalty for a tip tackle on Hallas.

Walker barrelled through and England appeared on his right. Walker offloaded it to him and the second-row went over for an easy score, with Hallas’ conversion putting Bulls in front for the first time.

Fax then had good territory for a lengthy spell, with Bulls losing their only right winger Reece Hamlett temporarily too, but a combination of great defence, poor passing, and sloppy decision making kept the hosts at bay.

It had been all Halifax for a solid 10 minutes, but Bulls stunned them with a sensational fourth try.

Superb hands from Lilley saw the visitors break down the left. Foggin-Johnston was so close to going over but Bulls didn’t panic, and they worked it back to Lilley.

His high cross-field kick was gathered in by Brown, who wrestled his way over in the right corner to make it 20-14.

Lilley then had a botched drop goal attempt and it almost led to a charge-down try from Adam Tangata.

Pickersgill bailed his side out from that attack with a desperate grab on the line, but moments later he tried to gather a high kick in and failed to get there ahead of Saltonstall.

The referee deemed it was the Bradford man who got the final touch, or that it hit a Halifax foot, as Bulls appealed in vain for a knock on and offside.

The ball broke kindly for Harris, who went over under the sticks to score, and he converted a simple chance to level things up.

Bulls hit back and edged in front through a surprise George Flanagan drop goal.

But with three minutes to go, Fax winger Zack Mccomb made a sensational break, evading countless challenges before being brought down just before the line.

Fax kept the ball on the last tackle, and the ball was worked out wide to the right.

The final pass was not ruled forward, and Saltonstall just evaded Foggin-Johnston’s lunge to score.

That floored Bulls once and for all, with no coming back from that cruel blow.

HALIFAX: Woodburn-Hall, McComb, Worthington, Barber, Saltonstall, Harris, Grix, Tangata, Moore, Murray, Garside, Kavanagh, Fairbank.

Interchanges: Curtis Davies, Morris, Larroyer, Connor Davies.

BULLS: Pickersgill, Hamlett, Evans, Oakes, Foggin-Johnston, Brown, Lilley, Walker, Doyle, Crossley, England, Murphy, Hallas.

Interchanges: Flanagan, Baldwinson, Rooks, Scurr.