Bulls 42 Hull FC 14
4:39pm Sunday 17th August 2008
Skipper Paul Deacon returned from injury to inspire his Bulls side to victory.
The ex-Great Britain scrum-half produced some real quality moments in what was largely a low standard Super League match.
His brilliant individual try finally made sure of success on the hour mark after his boot had also played a part in scores for James Evans and Matt Cook.
The Bulls were 12-0 up after just four minutes courtesy of tries from Evans and Terry Newton, both converted by their returning captain.
But they never kicked on in a lacklustre first period where both sides struggled to produce much momentum.
Bulls Semi Tadulala and Hull’s Jamie Thackray were sin-binned for fighting and it was the visitors who struck when both sides were down to 12.
They had already responded through Motu Tony before Matt Sing finished off Craig Hall’s break, Hall adding the extras to see his side trail just 12-10 at the turnaround.
But ex-Hull hooker Wayne Godwin got Bradford off to a flier just after the re-start and - although Great Britain centre Kirk Yeaman hit back - it was then all one way as the Bulls found their groove.
Matt Cook finished off a well-worked move involving Deacon on 53 minutes and then the No7 craftily jinxed his way through before stepping Tony and speeding to the line himself.
Bradford, whose top six spot is now all but confirmed, finished strongest with both David Solomona and Craig Kopczak held up over the whitewash before Joe Vagana showed them how it’s done, bulldozing in for his first of the season.
Ben Jeffries hacked on a loose ball just before the hooter for their seventh of the afternoon, the excellent Deacon maintaining his 100 per cent record converting to finish with a personal haul of 18 points.