Seventh hell for Bulls
Bradford crashed to a seventh straight defeat as Hull claimed a 28-22 victory at the Grattan Stadium.
Last Updated: 04/07/10 5:27pm
Bradford crashed to a seventh straight defeat as Hull claimed a 28-22 victory at the Grattan Stadium.
The result sees the Airlie Birds climb above champions Leeds into fourth in the engage Super League, but the Bulls' play-off hopes are fading by the week.
With the scores locked at 22-22 after a second-half Bulls comeback, Jordan Tansey's searing run set up Craig Hall for the decisive try in an enthralling contest.
The Black and Whites started the stronger in blustery conditions in Odsal.
The Bulls' defence was tested from the offset but eventually buckled after 15 minutes, when Tom Briscoe found space on the left, cut inside and scuttled through the Bradford defence to break the deadlock.
Danny Tickle duly scored his 50th conversion of the season, but the Bulls were soon level after Shaun Berrigan knocked on the resulting kick-off.
The ensuing scrum saw Paul Sykes send through a grubber kick, allowing Chris Nero to capitalise on some hesitant defending to down the bobbling ball.
Sykes made the resulting kick, but Hull returned to the attack undeterred and got their just reward after a spell of pressure, as Jordan Tansey picked up a loose ball to bounce over in the corner.
Tickle was unable to convert from wide on the right, but made amends by going in under the post just two minutes later.
Despite hints of a forward pass from Danny Washbrook, Tickle raced clear and duly converted his own try.
And moments before the break, the pressure on the Bulls players was evident when Sykes' flat pass was intercepted by Kirk Yeaman who jogged underneath the post for Hull's fourth try of the half.
Boos
Tickle's conversion and the half-time hooter were welcomed by a chorus of boos from the Bulls supporters.
But the hosts responded admirably as Brett Kearney went in at the right corner to reduce the deficit to 12 points just two minutes after the restart.
Sykes missed the conversion in the swirling wind but duly converted his next chance six minutes later, which came after Nero managed to pile over the line.
Despite looking down and out at the break, Bradford's tremendous spirit saw them level the game when substitute Danny Addy bounced over the line and Sykes converted in the 58th minute.
The Bulls now looked to have the momentum to go on and win the game, but all their hard work was undone by a moment of inspiration from Tansey.
The full-back picked up Sykes' ball on the 10 metre line, jinked past two Bulls players, before streaking up the field with only Rikki Sheriffe for company.
Tansey showed great strength and panache to keep the ball for more than 70 metres, before offloading to Hall to give Hull the lead with 13 minutes remaining.
The Bulls looked shell-shocked and failed to mount another comeback in the closing stages.
