BULLS COMPLETE RAM RAID FOR FOURTH WIN IN A ROW

Bradford Bulls made it four league wins in a row with a seven-try 38-12 victory over Dewsbury Rams at the FLAIR Stadium yesterday.

The game began with some strong defensive play from both sides, with the Bulls seeing off some early Rams’ pressure.

This nearly proved fruitful for the visitors, who managed to make their way up the pitch and into a very advantageous position, but following John Davies’ offload to Kieran Gill, the latter was unable to make the most of the opportunity to open the scoring.

This would nearly cost the Bulls, who narrowly avoided conceding the game’s first try to their hosts after Reiss Butterworth made an attempt at going over, but the Bradford defence held firm.

The strong defensive display proved to be vital, with the Bulls being awarded a penalty that they would make the most of, completing a very quick set of offloads that caught Dewsbury out and allowed debutant Max Lehmann to introduce himself the Bulls’ faithful with a diving try on the wing, giving the visitors a 4-0 lead they had to work for.

Soon after, the Bulls newfound momentum continued to pay off in style, with them quickly extending their advantage when after making their way into the 10, some excellent play allowed Tom Holmes to offload the ball to Zac Fulton, who found a gap with ease that allowed him to go over and extend the lead to 10-0 after the conversion.

This frantic period continued only five minutes later when after getting possession of the ball back, the Rams were able to reduce the Bulls’ lead to a single try, with a series of offloads finding the waiting hands of Owen Restall in a gap on the wing, with him capitalising and going over to make it 6-10.

The hosts’ momentum would soon fade just four minutes after their try, with the Bulls quickly managing to regain possession of the ball and finding themselves in a positive position on the field, the factors that proved vital in allowing the ball to be offloaded to Fulton, who went over with ease for his second try of the game that managed to restore a little breathing room for the Bulls with the score at 6-16.

As half-time approached, the Rams managed to create another opportunity to reduce the deficit, but when Lewis Carr was able to deliver a crucial offload, it was batted out of the air by Aidan McGowan, much to the delight of the very strong travelling support, meaning that the teams went in at the break with the Bulls very deserving of their lead after an enthralling half.

The second half began and maintained the theme that persisted throughout the first, with both teams managing to test each other well, including the hosts managing to gain an early penalty that gave them a strong field position.

This would mean nothing though, with the Bulls being the first team to score after a penalty of their own was made the most of when a series of quick passes led to it landing in the hands of Jordan Lilley, who was able to hold off his tacklers and make it over, extending Bulls’ lead to 6-20.

The visitors’ dominance and clinical nature was really starting to show itself, a fact proven just five minutes after Lilley’s try when Holmes was again in and amongst the action, managing to knock down his tackler before some fine footwork allowed him to make his way through the Rams’ wall of men and go over, making it 6-26 and giving the hosts an even bigger mountain to climb.

Penalties became a theme of the day as the game progressed, though they would also be vital, as proven when the Bulls were again able to make the most of one to put themselves in a good field position that allowed John Davies to receive an offload and go over in the 62nd minute to add salt to the Rams’ wounds and likely put the game out of reach for the hosts at 6-32.

The icing on the Bulls’ cake would come just seven minutes later after Mitch Souter added his name to the scoring ranks on the day, going over from close range and managing to stay strong under a host of Rams players, making it 6-38 and assuring the victory.

The Rams wouldn’t go down easily however, when with not long left at all, Roland Dixon managed to score a consolation for the hosts, one they felt they deserved after some good moments during the game, but this did nothing to weaken the celebrations of the Bulls, who will be pleased with their 12-38 victory, a huge momentum booster as they prepare for their next task, a trip to France to face Toulouse Olympique.

BRADFORD BULLS: Aidan McGowan, Max Lehmann, Jayden Myers, Kieran Gill, Jorge Taufua, Tom Holmes, Jordan Lilley, Jordan Baldwinson, Mitch Souter, Keven Appo, Zac Fulton, John Davies, Sam Hallas. INTERCHANGES: Franklin Pele, Ebon Scurr, Tyran Ott, Eliot Peposhi. 

TRIES: Lehmann, Fulton (2), Lilley, Holmes, Davies, Souter

GOALS: Lilley 5/7