BRADFORD Bulls survived a late scare to beat the league’s bottom side Swinton Lions at Odsal this afternoon.

The game was far from a classic and Bulls didn’t produce the scintillating attacking form some may have expected-coming up against a side who had only won one game all season.

And if it weren’t for Jordan Lilley’s brilliance from the tee, then they may have found themselves dropping points with both sides scoring five tries each.

Although not at their best, the Bradford side did appear in control of the fixture at 30-14 up after substitute George Flanagan’s eye-catching cameo, scoring two second half-tries.

But Swinton fought back at the death with two quickfire tries, taking the score to 30-26 but Bradford held on.

The 30-26 victory meant Bulls secured consecutive league victories and a play-off spot looks almost certain to be secured.

Going into the last few fixtures, the Bradford side will be grateful to have returning winger Matty Dawson-Jones back in their ranks.

The speedster made his comeback today and although he couldn’t contribute a scoring return, he will certainly be a key figure coming into the business end of the season.

Young prop Bradley Ho also made his debut for the side, coming off from the bench and he was able to get his first taste of competitive rugby-league.

The game struggled to get going throughout and it was a cagey opening 15 minutes.

But Bradford did manage to break the deadlock on minute 17.

Pickersgill went over after Bulls created an overload on the left hand-side. Jordan Lilley flicked the ball left towards the fullback and he decided against an offload to David Foggin-Johnston and went alone. Lilley added his first of five conversions.

As soon as Bulls went over, the overcast sky turned into a bright and cheerful one and it was Ross Oakes who shone brightest eight minutes later.

He capped off a fantastic move initiated by Foggin-Johnston. The winger made a brilliant break down the left, evading a couple of challenges before teeing up Pickersgill. The fullback was almost brought to the ground but he managed to tee up Oakes who fumbled the ball but worked his magic to retain it and fortunately for the Bulls, he went over for a converted try.

Swinton replied by scoring one of two first half tries only two minutes after Bradford had gone 12-0 up.

A kick was played through the Bradford defence on the sixth into the in-goal area.

Foggin Johnston looked to have grounded the ball, however Luis Roberts punished the Bradford winger and secured the four points for the away side. Swinton missed the conversion- the first of two occasions in which they did.

Shortly after, they added another try which was converted this time. A poor pass by Bulls saw Ben Heyes intercept and run the length of the field to add the points.

Going into the interval, Bradford will have been extremely frustrated with the two errors made after they’d gone from being in control to living on a knife-edge.

The two quickfire Swinton tries pegged the hosts back and Kear will have been frustrated with the lack of urgency his side showed in the attacking third.

Thankfully for Kear, he had George Flanagan to call on and the substitute’s cameo will surely give the Bulls head coach something to ponder going into the York fixture next week.

A quickfire converted double saw Flanagan extend Bradford’s lead to 24-10. His first try came on minute 53 when he somehow squeezed his way over the line, taking on a handful of Swinton defenders to do so.

His second came four minutes later when he stooped low to evade a couple of onrushing Lion’s tackles, before darting under the posts.

It was then time for academy star Ho’s debut. The youngster came on to a standing ovation but the fans weren’t cheering a couple of minutes later as Roberts went over for his second of the day, however the pass appeared to have moved forward, adding to the frustration of Bradford fans.

Foggin-Johnston did manage to add some breathing space for the hosts- collecting the ball on the left before stepping two challenge from the Swinton backline and putting the ball down. Lilley converted to put pulls 30-14 ahead.

Swinton provided a late scare, scoring two more converted tries but it was too little too late.

Bradford travel to face York City Knights next weekend.