Rugby

REPORT

The Bradford Bulls put their troubles behind them to claim their second win of the season and deny arch rivals Leeds Rhinos the chance to return to the top of engage Super League.

The champions were below par but had two tries controversially disallowed by French video referee Thierry Alibert in a dramatic final quarter.

Winger Rikki Sheriffe was the Bulls' match-winner, pouncing for the all-important try 13 minutes from the end after the Rhinos had been reduced to 12 men with the sin-binning of Carl Ablett.

A second defeat of the season completed a miserable six days for Leeds following their Carnegue Challenge Cup exit and marked an unhappy return to Odsal for ex-Bradford skipper Jamie Peacock on his 100th appearance for the club.

Both sides were coming off the back of disappointing Cup defeats but it was Bradford, with only one win in their opening six Super League matches, who looked the more energetic from the start.

The Bulls had veteran second rower Steve Menzies filling in at stand-off, with Ben Jeffries switching to scrum-half in the absence of skipper Paul Deacon, and the makeshift pairing had the better of the exchanges with England duo Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire.

But the Rhinos soaked up the early pressure and took the lead with their first serious foray into Bradford territory midway through the first half.

Second rower Jamie Jones-Buchanan took a suspiciously-forward pass from Burrow to force his way over for the game's first try and Kevin Sinfield added the goal.

That gave the champions the spur they clearly needed and they thought they had added to their score on 31 minutes when left winger Ryan Hall flew over at the corner but was brought back for a forward pass.

The Bulls made the most of the reprieve and drew level six minutes before the break when substitute forward Michael Worrincy took Paul Sykes' pass and wrong-footed full-back Brent Webb for his first try for the club.

Sykes added the conversion to lock the scores but Sinfield had a chance to regain the lead for his side when he attempted an ambitious penalty from the halfway line right on the stroke of half-time only to watch it fall short of the target.

Sykes had an opportunity to edge his side in front for the first time three minutes into the second half but his penalty from 30 metres out went wide.

Leeds looked to be gaining the ascendancy in the third quarter but their handling let them down, with the experienced Keith Senior having a particularly unhappy day.

The Rhinos looked to have made the breakthrough on the hour when Burrow broke clear from deep inside his own half and took a return pass from Webb to touch down but referee Ian Smith sought assistance from the video official before awarding the try and Alibert disallowed it for an earlier infringement.

That gave Sykes another chance to go for goal but he was once more off target and the scores were still tied as the game entered the final quarter when the game came to life.

The drama continued when Webb lost the ball on his own line but was deemed to have made it dead and then Leeds had Ablett sin-binned for dragging Sheriffe into touch after completing the tackle.

The former Harlequins winger had cut the Rhinos defence to ribbons with a searing run out of defence and he popped up a minute later on the other wing to grab the match-winner after Hall had failed to deal with Jeffries' high kick.

Sheriffe ought to have scored again after Menzies broke clear and it looked to be a costly miss when young winger Kallum Watkins broke away and McGuire finished off the move.

However, Alibert once more disallowed the try, ruling Jones-Buchanan had knocked on in the build-up and Bradford made the most of the reprieve to hang on for a precious win.

POST-MATCH COMMENTS

Leeds coach Brian McClennan bit his tongue after his side had two tries disallowed by French video referee Thierry Alibert in the 10-6 defeat at Bradford.

Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire were both denied long-range scores as the Super League Champions suffered their second defeat of the season to miss the chance to return to the top of the table.

"I've got thoughts about them but I'll keep them to myself," McClennan said of the two tries that were disallowed. "I don't want to take away what Bradford did."

"There were a couple of other decisions that I'm unsure of but that's the way it goes."

McClennan did admit that Bradford produced a performance worthy of the victory, adding that the Bulls looked a team desperate to win.

"Well done to Bradford," added McClennan. "There was a lot of desperation and a lot of courage in their play."

"You could see a side that really needed those two points. They did a good job, they played tough tonight."

"I'm actually pretty pleased with some aspects of our game. Our defence was a lot better."

"We did some good things, we just didn't get cracking along in attack but that's credit to Bradford. They got numbers in and controlled the ruck pretty well."

Bulls coach Steve McNamara saw his side win their second Super League game of the season and hopes his side can now kick on and continue to turn their form.

"It was a big kick in the teeth for us last week so to get the job done, I'm just pleased for the group," he said.

"It was a very tight, tough game. There was not a lot in it. I thought there was some tremendous spirit and determination from us and some quality there as well so I'm very pleased.

"We started the last two games well but tonight we continued in that vein.

"They all played very strong. Steve Menzies played four different positions and he didn't look out of place in any of them."