Defeat puts Bulls in play-offs peril

10:35pm Friday 11th July 2008

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Warrington 32 Bulls 28

Some Martin Gleeson magic destroyed the Bulls as their play-off hopes took another battering at Warrington.

The majestic England centre – looking to head to the NRL with Melbourne Storm – strode in for two great tries to inflict another defeat on Steve McNamara’s side, who were made to pay for a sloppy second-half showing at Halliwell Jones Stadium.

They now fall four points behind fifth-placed Warrington, who are hitting some rich form under former Bulls hero James Lowes. He has steered them to five wins from just six games since taking charge but Bradford are struggling.

They welcomed back Paul Deacon from a seven-game absence and he did his best to guide his side home but there was plenty of stellar quality sat in the stands – Sam Burgess, Terry Newton and Paul Sykes added to long-term sick Glenn Morrison and Tame Tupou.

That experience was sorely missed as the visitors, who led 18-12 at the break, saw another game agonisingly fall away from their grasp.

The Bulls started on fire, going 12-0 up after scoring back-to-back tries inside just eight minutes.

The tireless Andy Lynch got the first, albeit fortuitously. Deacon’s grubber kick ricocheted wickedly off Adrian Morley’s right leg for the Bulls prop to dive gratefully on the loose ball.

Chris Nero added the second in the restart set after a fine pass out of the tackle from David Solomona sent Semi Tadulala motoring down the wing.

The Fijian cut inside two defenders and found Nero in support, who finished off with his second try in as many games.

Deacon booted both goals and the skipper directed his side around the field with his customary ease to leave fans in hope of a much-needed win.

Bradford kept it simple but effective and made hardly any errors early on.

The hosts, meanwhile, spilt ball after ball, much like the Bulls had done six days earlier in their awful defeat at Huddersfield.

But it was only a matter of time before the Wolves found the sort of bite that had steered them to four wins in their last five games.

Gleeson romped in brilliantly from 80 metres, sidestepping Michael Platt and then evading Nero’s desperate tackle after being put into a gap by his excellent centre partner Matt King.

Normally known for his finishing skills, it was King’s creative side that caught the eye last night, turning provider again when his delicate pass from a scrum put Briers racing clear. Winger Chris Riley continued the movement and the little flier looked destined for the corner until the sizeable presence of Solomona somehow got back to nail him with Nero.

Iestyn Harris – playing hooker in the absence of Terry Newton – was called on for a try-saver on Scott Grix as Warrington’s off-load game started causing more problems but Bradford had their own chances, Tadulala just forced into touch off Solomona’s long ball on the last play.

Young prop Craig Kopczak was also harshly denied his first-ever senior try by the video referee.

Platt had jinked his way to the line brilliantly before off-loading to the Welsh international, who crashed over, but it was pulled back for a non-existent obstruction.

Justice was done soon after though when Tadulala picked Riley’s pocket, leaping in front of the winger to sneak in and collect Deacon’s excellent cross-field kick.

Deacon added the extras to make it 18-6 but then saw his side commit suicide seconds before the break to lose much of their hard-earned advantage.

Platt dallied taking a kick behind his own line but got safely out, only to fling a shocking pass right across his own posts to Tadulala.

His winger managed to take the instant tackle of Riley but then fumbled playing the ball and from the scrum Gleeson ghosted over too easily on the outside of Nero, Hicks kicking his second conversion from wide out.

Platt, who has suffered some nightmares of late, made up for his error in the first minute of the second half though, getting over from dummy half after Wolves winger Kevin Penny had coughed Harris’s long kick into touch.

Deacon’s conversion – his second kick having taken him past 2,000 Super League points – stretched them out to 24-12 but they couldn’t build on that early success and it was as good as it got.

Roared on by a vociferous crowd, and with more Bulls errors creeping in, Lowes’ side struck twice in six minutes to level the contest.

Dave Halley fumbled playing the ball 20 metres from his own line after taking a kick.

Straight from the scrum again, the Wolves scored, this time Hicks cutting back on an angle off Briers’ off-load and slicing through some weak tackling to go over.

He improved his own score and then added the extras when King hit Monaghan’s long pass close to the line and shrugged off James Evans to dive over.

Warrington took the lead for the first time in the 61st minute, typically after another dumb mistake from the visitors.

Platt returned a kick but then failed to play the ball correctly, gifting more perfect striking position for the gaining-in-confidence Wolves.

Sensing their chance, Warrington refused the chance for two points and their positive attitude paid off with hooker Jon Clarke sending Louis Anderson over between the poor tackle efforts of Matt Cook and Evans.

Solomona was then sin-binned for a ‘late’ charge on Briers’ after the stand-off had kicked.

Despite being down to 12, the Bulls broke out to get a try through Jeffries following Langley’s fine arcing run but Deacon couldn’t convert and they didn’t get another chance.

Elsewhere tonight, there were big wins for top two St Helens and Leeds.

Saints romped to a 68-12 success at home to Castleford – their 14th straight win – while the faltering Rhinos destroyed Huddersfield 46-8 at Headingley Carnegie.