BRADFORD Bulls’ recent woes continued as they limped to a 30-12 defeat at home to    London Broncos at Odsal this evening.

The late Saturday night kick-off time gave the hosts a chance to close the gap between themselves and the play-off chasing Barrow Raiders, while it also gave Mark Dunning’s side the opportunity to regain some much-needed confidence after the club’s recent thrashings against Leigh and Newcastle Thunder.

Coming into the fixture, some would have classed this home tie against a struggling London Broncos as a ‘must win’, with a play-off spot still in reach for the side from Odsal; they take on Barrow away next weekend, the side who currently occupy the final play-off spot.

But Dunning’s side, which included first team debutant George Flanagan JR, couldn’t produce the goods yet again.

A quick burst from Flanagan JR had the Bradford faithful on their feet in the opening two minutes, but that was only monetary respite for the home side as London piled on the pressure in the opening stages, but Bulls stood strong.

The opening 25 minutes of the context produced very little incident and the only real chance for either side came on minute 22, and it was a brilliant chance.

Dec Patton sent a delightful, clipped kick to the left-hand side of the field and Elliot Kear battled brilliantly to pluck the ball out of the air. He then laid the ball off to Hallas, who had Lilley waiting in his wings to storm over for a Bulls’ opener, but Bradford’s number 32 found the grateful arms of a London man.

And the side from Odsal were made to pay. Oli Leyland broke through a gap and found the supporting Iliess Macani, who touched down for the opening try of the contest. Leyland converted to put London 6-0 up.

Only six minutes later (34), Jordan Williams then powered over for the visitors despite the best efforts of three Bradford defenders, however, his momentum carried him over to put his side two tries up, and Leyland added the conversion once again.

Hope was restored, though, with two minutes remaining of the first half and it was a brilliantly executed try by Dunning’s men, with Kear finding his way over in the corner after some brilliant interchanging play.

Jordan Lilley found space before laying the ball off to Bradford’s top scorer, Kieran Gill. The latter then found Kear on the left wing to finish expertly.

On his senior debut, Flanagan JR was a real shining light in Bradford’s below par first-half display, and it didn’t take long for his dynamism and creativity to pay dividends for the hosts in the second half.

Some brilliant work between Kieran Gill and Kear on the left-hand side- with both players linking to great effect- ensured Flanagan JR could receive the ball in space after he’d made a lung bursting, supporting run, and he escaped a London challenge to go over for a try on his senior debut. The Odsal faithful erupted and his father, George SNR, was first to greet him in the celebrations.

Unfortunately for Bradford and Flanagan JR, London soon restored their lead to dampen the mood inside Odsal yet again.

 Paul Ulberg powered his way over on the right wing to quickly shun Bradford’s comeback and Leyland added his customary conversion to put the visitors 18-12 up.

The latter then took it into his own hands to extend London’s lead further after the Bulls were penalised for being offside, hitting a crisp penalty over the posts to add two more to the visitors’ score.

Broncos were not done yet and they were eager to inflict more punishment on the hosts. Sam Hall picked the ball up centrally and darted through the smallest of gaps to touch down under the posts, and the conversion was added to take the score to 26-12.

There was time for one more try for the visitors as Siti Moceidreke burst through a number of challenges to run the whole length of the pitch, condemning Bradford to another big defeat, 30-12 on this occasion.

The big fixtures keep on coming for Dunning's side and next up it’s a trip to Barrow for Dunning’s men- a fixture which could have big implications on whether Bulls finish in the top six.