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| | Friday, 7 June, 2002, 21:59 GMT 22:59 UK Bulls edge out Broncos Deacon led the Bulls with 14 points Bradford Bulls 22-12 London Broncos The London Broncos put on a brave display against Super League leaders Bradford Bulls but went down to defeat at Valley Parade. The Broncos were a man short for the last 20 minutes after losing two players to the sin bin, but made the Bulls fight to the end. London, who handed the Bulls their first defeat with a 15-14 win in April, were almost ahead after just four minutes.
Second-rower Steele Retchless charged down a kick from Bulls scrum-half Paul Deacon, but he was caught by Bradford winger Nathan McAvoy. The Bulls went 2-0 ahead through Deacon after 17 minutes, but the Broncos continued to cause them problems and hooker Jason Hetherington almost forced his way over for a try. Deacon landed a second penalty in the 23rd minute for the Bulls, who were without leading try scorer Tevita Vaikona, hooker James Lowes and New Zealand winger Leslie Vainikolo through injury. Bulls forward Richard Moore, who spent time on loan to the Broncos earlier in the season, almost went over shortly before the interval. The game continued to be a hard-fought affair after the break, but the Bulls took a grip when Deacon landed his third goal and then after 48 minutes they made the breakthrough.
Loose-forward Mike Forshaw found Robbie Paul, playing as hooker in the absence of Lowes, and the skipper went over. Deacon's conversion made it 12-0 and the Broncos hopes were not helped when centre Tony Martin was sin binned for holding down at the play-the-ball. While he was off the field Bradford stretched their lead with stand-off Brandon Costin and forward Jamie Peacock combining to send full-back Michael Withers over. Deacon converted and then added another penalty goal following the dismissal of Retchless. Despite the loss of numbers, London battled on and earned two consolation tries from winger Nigel Roy and substitute Michael Gillett, which were both converted by Martin.
Broncos coach Tony Rea was far from happy with the refereeing. "We got taken out of the game," he said. "The 14-3 penalty count against us was a joke. "I am very frustrated by what happened but in six years we have never won a penalty count away from home." Bradford coach Brian Noble did not agree, however, saying London brought it on themselves. "The penalty count reflected London's tactics," he said. "They are a tough side and they tried to slow the game down. "We could have done more to help ourselves but we were without some very effective players and it was a classic case of a wearing-down process." | |
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