SECOND HALF BLITZ SEALS SPOILS

Bradford Bulls ran in 38 unanswered points to secure an emphatic 44-18 win over a battling Whitehaven RLFC outfit at the LEL Arena yesterday.

Connor Holiday opened the scoring for Whitehaven early on. James Segeyaro had broken away for the Bulls but play was pulled back due to an apparent error from Bradford and with Lee Gaskell was down with a head knock in back play, the Whitehaven man spotted a gap and barged through. 

Whitehaven crossed again soon after, as Bradford thought they had wrapped Lucas Castle up, he managed to offload to Dion Ayre who crossed underneath the posts, as Whitehaven started fast.

Bradford would come with some pressure of their own, as a fast-flowing move saw Jorge Taufua broke down the left-hand side, Whitehaven would give away a penalty and a six again which laid the platform for James Segeyaro to score his first try in Bradford colours. 

The hooker saw a gap in front of the posts and took full advantage to pull the scores back to 12-6.

Ben Blackmore then saw a try disallowed for a forward pass after which, Whitehaven were awarded a penalty for a ball steal which allowed them to move upfield, with Ryan King crossing underneath the posts.

With the scores standing at 18-6, Bradford turned the tide, with Ben Blackmore eventually crossing in the corner after a floated pass by stand-in full-back Jordan Lilley, replacing Connor Wynne who had to leave the field with a shoulder injury.

Ebon Scurr looked like he had touched down to the right of the posts, but the try was disallowed late on in the first half, Bradford’s fourth disallowed try of the first half.

Whitehaven would take the 18-10 lead into the break but with eight minutes gone in the second half, aDan Okoro barged his way into the Haven line after a penalty for Ryan King being adjudged to have been offside. A short ball then fed Keven Appo, who charged at the line and couldn’t be stopped to bring the scores back to two. 

Dec Patton then added another two from a resulting penalty, levelling the scores. 

The game would turn on that converted penalty, as Bradford would turn on the heat on a tired Haven, a slick, flowing move saw Jordan Lilley break down the middle, and as he was brought down, Lee Gaskell slipped in Kieran Gill to score his 19^th of the season. 

On the next set, Bradford went back-to-back as a six again allowed the Bulls to move up field through the speedy Segeyaro and he created the space for Masi Matongo to crash over, pushing us 10 points ahead.

Another score followed, with Chester Butler crossing and then an awe inspiring try from AJ Wallace, with the Bulls scoring four back-to-back tries as they put a depleted Haven to the sword.

AJ Wallace showing you never give up on a bouncing ball, as Lee Gaskell kicked in-behind and Josh Rourke left the bobbling ball, AJ raced in to touch down, leaving the scores at 18-38. 

There was time for one final moment of brilliance from Dec Patton, who on his own, rounded off a great performance with a solo try. 

After a disappointing first half, Lee Greenwood’s men turned on the style in a ruthless second half 20 minutes as they raced in 34 unanswered points to move one point outside the top four. 

BRADFORD BULLS – Connor Wynne, Ben Blackmore, Kieran Gill, Jayden Myers, Jorge Taufua, Dec Patton, Lee Gaskell, Masi Matongo, James Segeyaro, Michael Lawrence, Chester Butler, AJ Wallace, Jason Baitieri.

Interchanges – Jordan Lilley, Dan Okoro, Ebon Scurr, Keven Appo. 

TRIES

Segeyaro, Blackmore, Appo, Gill, Matongo, Butler, Wallace, Patton 

GOALS

Patton 6/8 Lilley 0/1

PENALTY GOALS

Patton 1/1