Rugby

A two try Man of the Match performance from Olivier Elima was not enough as the Bulls fell just short against Leeds Rhinos in front of over 19,000 supporters at Odsal.

Bradford were good value for their early 10-0 lead, courtesy of two tries in a three-minute purple patch.

Patrick Ah Van, who missed the Bulls' 56-16 debacle at Salford with a minor leg injury, grabbed the opening try, juggling with the ball after collecting Marc Herbert\'s accurate kick to the corner.

Captain and prop Andy Lynch then went through a gaping hole in the Leeds defence to score a second try and Ah Van kicked the first of three goals.

The defensive frailties exposed by Huddersfield a week ago were again in evidence but the introduction of replacement hooker Paul McShane injected more purpose into their attack and he opened their account on 25 minutes, forcing his way over from dummy half.

Kevin Sinfield added the conversion and the Rhinos drew level in fortuitous fashion five minutes before half-time when second rower Jamie Jones-Buchanan took a suspicious-looking forward pass from full-back Brent Webb to cross for a second try.

Bradford's sense of injustice was appeased somewhat when they were awarded a penalty just before the break for nothing more than a push by Leeds prop Ben Cross and Ah Van's goal edged them into a 12-10 interval lead.

When Leeds were penalised once more in front of their posts early in the second half, this time the Bulls decided to run it and their bold approach paid off with a third try.

The opening was created by a superb offload from prop Bryn Hargreaves which enabled Herbert to get France international forward Olivier Elima powering over the line for the first of his two tries.

But the visitors turned the game on its head with two tries in three minutes.

They were back on level terms within five minutes when Rob Burrow combined with Webb to send veteran centre Keith Senior over and Bradford had barely recovered from that shock when the Rhinos struck again.

Bulls full-back Brett Kearney pulled off a try-saving tackle on Webb after he was released by loose forward Carl Ablett but the home defence could not re-group in time to prevent Sinfield sending winger Ryan Hall over unopposed in the next play.

Sinfield added both difficult conversions to establish a 22-16 lead but the game was back in the balance when Elima forced his way over on the hour for his second try and Ah Van's third goal tied the scores for a third time.

Leeds went back in front on 67 minutes when Ah Van was pulled up for an obstruction and Sinfield maintained his accuracy with the penalty and they made sure of the win when hooker Danny Buderus grabbed a fifth try three minutes from the end, with Sinfield taking his goal tally to five from six attempts.