Blake scores twice as Bradford beat Catalans

Betfred Super League

Bradford (24) 28

Tries: Ackers, Blake (2), Aekins Goals: Milnes (6)

Catalans (0) 10

Tries: Faataape, Sexton Goals: Sexton

Bradford Bulls marked their first Super League home match for 12 years with an emphatic 28-10 win over Catalans Dragons.

Converted tries from Andy Ackers, Waqa Blake and Caleb Aekins were added to by three penalty goals by Rowan Milnes for a 24-0 lead at half-time.

Quickfire scores from Solomona Faataape and Toby Sexton threatened a stunning Dragons comeback in the second half.

But Blake scored again to secure a famous win for the Bulls at Odsal Stadium.

Bradford took an early lead through Ackers, who twisted and turned before powering over the line from close range after Joe Mellor kept the move alive.

Milnes kicked two penalties from under the sticks inside 22 minutes, punishing a string of errors by the Dragons.

The visitors were denied by a no-try call when Iszac Fa'asuamaleaui thought he had scored on the line, but the video referee upheld the decision, ruling that he had not touched the ball down.

It proved to be a key moment as Milnes added a third penalty goal before Blake raced away after a swift team move from right to left to score the Bulls' second try.

Aekins then darted through a gap left by the Catalans' front row for a third try.

Three minutes after the break, the Dragons were given a gift when Ethan Ryan's loose pass was pounced on by Faataape, who could not believe his luck as he ran in to score.

The momentum was with the visitors, and another Bradford error, this time from Aekins, was punished as Sexton went over, but his conversion attempt went wide to leave the deficit at 14 points.

Ryan almost made amends for his mistake by catching a long Milnes kick inside the Catalans' half before setting Esan Marsters away, but the video referee disallowed the try, ruling that Ryan had been tackled during the play.

Blake added his second try moments later after Ryan combined with Milnes to cap an impressive victory.

Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty told BBC Radio Leeds:

"I really enjoyed the first half. I really enjoyed parts of the second half, particularly defensively.

"We were really sloppy with the ball in the second half, but I liked how we turned Catalans away. We showed how fit we are... and how far we have come in a short space of time.

"The belief of the group is really important, we've got another tough game [coming up against Toulouse], it's week to week this. You can't just peak because we've got a good crowd at Odsal.

"We'll certainly won't be happy, we'll address the second half, we'll fix it."

Bradford: Aekins; Wynne, Marsters, Blake, Ryan; Hooley, Milnes; Sutton, Ackers, Lewis, Chamberlain, Fulton, Mellor.

Interchanges: Souter, Scurr, Doro, Peposhi.

Catalans: Staines; Makinson, Cotric, Faataape, Simm; Sexton, Dodd; Satae, Da Costa, Navarrete, Lipowicz, Condon, Leeming.

Interchanges: Fa'asuamaleaui, Allen, Lis, Chan.

Referee: Liam Rush.