BULLS RUN RIOT IN SOUTH YORKSHIRE

Bradford Bulls made it five wins on the spin to move into 2nd place with a ruthless 12-try 70-8 victory over Sheffield Eagles last night.

Brian Noble made one change to the side that beat Doncaster last time out, with Kieran Gill returning in place of Jorge Taufua. 

The home side had an encouraging opening set when Kris Welham sent Jayden Billy racing down the wing, play was ultimately called back as the Eagles were penalised for an off the ball infringement.

That penalty gave the Bulls field position to open the scoring, the influential Tom Holmes fired a pass out wide to Guy Armitage, who swatted aside his opposite number to dive over.

Sheffield’s first spell of possession in Bradford territory resulted in points when Jack Bussey crashed over from close range. 

Holding a two-point lead, the Bulls would stretch it out to 8 when a looping pass from Joe Keyes sent Jayden Okunbor over for his 17th try of the season. 

That sparked a spell of 54 points without reply as Noble’s side put their foot on the accelerator.

Armitage proved influential in Bradford’s third, bursting through a tackle and offloading to Gill, who raced 50 metres before sending Holmes over in the corner.

On the following set, Zac Fulton wrestled his way past four Sheffield defenders to somehow score his 8th try of the season. 

The points dried up temporarily for the visitors but they responded with three tries in the final five minutes of the first half. Luke Hooley grabbed the first of three on the evening, darting through a gap after good work from Keyes. 

Logan Bayliss burst through the Sheffield defence, raced 60 metres into Eagles territory before handing off to Holmes for his second of the evening.

And the Bulls weren’t done there! Another break from deep saw Mitch Souter take the ball close to the Sheffield line before sending a pass out wide to Armitage for his second of the evening. 

Bradford started the second half in the same vein they ended the first, with quick fire scores from Gill stretching the lead further.

Another flowing move saw Holmes put Gee through a gap, he found Gill on his outside to touch down for his first. 

Soon after, the unplayable Holmes diced and sliced through bodies in the Eagles’ back line and fed Gill for his second. 

Holmes was wreaking havoc again on the hour mark, this time sending Hooley over for his second try with the Bulls rampant. 

The home side would get on the scoresheet in the second half, a touching moment for Martyn Reilly, who bravely turned out to represent his side despite the tragic, sudden passing of his sister on Thursday. Our thoughts and condolences are with Martyn’s family at this difficult time.

After a spell of pressure from Sheffield, Hooley would touch down for his hat trick as some champagne rugby from the Bulls saw Keyes feed the full-back with a lovely inside ball. 

Guy Armitage was then over for his hat-trick, after a scrum play looked to have broken down, he somehow powered his way past a Sheffield defender, wriggling free of a tackle and stretching out to score. Jordan Lilley missed the conversion attempt, Bradford's first miss of the evening drawing sarcastic boos from the Bradford faithful. 

BRADFORD BULLS: Luke Hooley, Jayden Okunbor, Waqa Blake, Kieran Gill, Guy Armitage, Tom Holmes, Joe Keyes, Michael Lawrence, Jordan Lilley, Logan Bayliss, Matty Gee, Zac Fulton, Chris Hill. INTERCHANGES: Ebon Scurr, Mitch Souter, Sam Hallas, Ronan Michael. 18th Man: James Meadows.  

TRIES: Armitage (3), Hooley (3), Holmes (2), Gill (2), Okunbor, Fulton

GOALS: Lilley 4/5, Hooley 7/7