Archive
Fri, 26 July 2002
Bradford Bulls 40
Castleford Tigers 18
Bradford Bulls: Michael Withers, Tevita Vaikona, Scott Naylor, Lee Gilmour, Lesley Vainikolo, Robbie Paul, Paul Deacon, Joe Vagana, James Lowes, Stuart Fielden, Jamie Peacock, Daniel Gartner, Mike Forshaw
Subs: Leon Pryce, Nathan McAvoy, Brian McDermott, Lee Radford
Tries: Michael Withers, Tevita Vaikona, Scott Naylor, Lee Gilmour, Lesley Vainikolo, James Lowes, Brian McDermott
Goals: Paul Deacon (6)
Tigers: Darren Rogers, Tom Saxton, Kyle Warren, Jon Wells, Waine Pryce, Danny Orr, Mitch Healey, Adrian Rainey, Wayne Bartrim, Andy Lynch, Lee Harland, Dale Fritz, Ryan Hudson
Subs: Adam Thaler, Richard Blakeway, Wayne Godwin, David Bates
Tries: Pryce, Rainey, Godwin
Goals: Bartrim (3)
Leading only 12-0 at the break, following tries from Michael Withers and James Lowes, Brian Noble's men cut loose with five tries in 25 second half minutes to blow away the under-strength Tigers.
Tevita Vaikona got the first score, and Lee Gilmour, Lesley Vainikolo, Scott Naylor and Brian McDermott added further scores, with Paul Deacon adding six goals from seven attempts.
Waine Pryce had interrupted the Bulls' charge to get Bradford off the mark, and Adrian Rainey and Wayne Godwin scored further tries, Wayne Bartrim converting all three, to give the scoreline a look that their efforts deserved.
Bradford led 12-0 at half-time, but it was a far tighter game than that scoreline would suggest, with the Bulls' normally unconquerable home form looking less than convincing.
Ten minutes went without either side threatening to open the score, with the only chance coming when Lesley Vainikolo was pushed out of play in the corner as the Tigers defended resolutely.
The deadlock was broken just before the quarter-hour mark when Robbie Paul drew in three tacklers but was still able to offload into the path of full-back Michael Withers, whose run took him clear for the opening try.
Six points down with Paul Deacon's kick successful, Tigers stand-in centre Kyle Warren was forced to put in a great tackle on Tevita Vaikona to stop the winger scoring a trademark breakaway try on the right flank.
Danny Orr came within a whisker of levelling the try count after he was brought down just short and lost the ball reaching out.
It was with some controversy though that Bradford extended their lead.
The touch judge was barely five yards away, but failed to spot the forward pass from Vaikona and the visitors were made to pay for it in the end as the Bulls made another 20 metres to complete their set of six tackles with a try at the end for Jimmy Lowes.
Another Deacon conversion made the scoreline 12-0 at half-time, but the Bulls were forced to hang on for a while as the visitors made life uncomfortable in the last ten minutes, pinning Bradford back on their own try line.
A high bomb from Healey deceived Lesley Vainikolo on his own touchline as the big winger dropped the ball, but fortunately for him it rolled out of play, but giving Cas the chance to attack the Bulls line once more.
Castleford were disappointed not to have gone into the break with a try under their belts, and they were simply blown away in the second half by the rampant Bulls.
Tevita Vaikona started the rout six minutes into the half with a superb individual try, cutting inside before going wide again and in full flight - no-one in the Tigers defence was able to cut the big Tongan down to size.
That was the end of Castleford's resistance, and some classic Bradford play saw six passes were exchanged down the left hand flank and ended with Lee Gilmour in a race to the line.
He was far too quick for a now weary Castleford defence and another Deacon kick made it 24-0.
Lesley Vainikolo then scored with an almost exact replica of the previous try, again punishing the Tigers down the left wing.
With the score at 30-0, Castleford began their too little-too-late fight back, but at least it offered some cheer for their travelling fans and restored some pride in Graham Steadman's men.
On the hour mark, Waine Pryce skipped past the tackle of Paul Deacon on the right and Wayne Bartrim kicked the conversion from the touchline.
Bradford were not done though, and once Robbie Paul dummied his way inside his pass sent Scott Naylor away for an unstoppable try.
Another score soon followed, this time for the veteran prop Brian McDermott, enjoying his testimonial year with the Bulls.
But Castleford, to their credit, refused to allow their heads to drop and had the final say with two more tries.
Adrian Rainey crashed over with a little help from his team-mates to drive him over the line, another excellent conversion from Bartrim followed.
The final try of the evening saw Wayne Godwin scamper through the legs of the Bulls defence and add some gloss to a spirited - if ultimately in vain - Tigers fight back.
"We still have got plenty of work to do, but that was the sort of tough game we needed before facing Leeds next week," said Bulls assistant coach Darrel Shelford. "Cas are a gritty side and they stuck at it.
"We let in a couple of soft tries, but generally we are moving in the right direction at this stage of the season."