BRADFORD BULLS 32 CASTLEFORD TIGERS 22
KEITH McGHIE, Bartercard Odsal, Thursday
A DETERMINED Bradford kept themselves in the hunt to avoid the wooden spoon by repelling a brave second-half assault from Castleford.
The Bulls ran in six tries, five of which were created in an ultimately decisive opening half, then tackled themselves to a standstill after the break.
The hard-earned success ended a run of seven straight defeats, dating back to early July, which have resulted in them slipping to the foot of the table but the Tigers, themselves with just one win in the same amount of games, recovered from a slow start to finish territorially in the ascendancy.
Bradford still need a result from their final game at York to avoid the dubious distinction of collecting the wooden spoon.
The Bulls, injury-ravaged all season, welcomed back Dan Russell and Phoenix Steinwede, after both completed concussion protocols, whilst the Tigers were able to return Krystian Mapapalangi to the centres.
Shortly after the kick-off, Joe Mellor took a tackle and consciously offloaded to the oncoming Riley Dean, who ran through the space created to score.
Chris Atkin landed the first of four conversions.
The onset of forecast rain caused immediate handling errors from both sides.
Atkin then created and converted a second Bulls try eight minutes later – the scrum-half’s long missed pass over the top allowing Connor Wynne to slide over in the corner.
A high Dean bomb then caused some consternation in the Tigers’ defence, allowing an offload which was hacked on for Caleb Aekins, diving on the ball and, after many replays, being awarded the try.
The tough-tackling bottom-of-the-table side were scoring at a point a minute and making a mockery of their league position and recent run of results.
However with space appearing on the flank in front of the grandstand, Mapapalangi put Louis Senior in at the other end, albeit Tom Weaver was unlucky to strike the near upright with his goal attempt, his only miss.
That success prompted Cas into applying a lengthy spell of pressure which the Bulls did well to repell and was eventually relieved by a timely Jayden Okunbor interception.
An Atkin change of direction enabled Russell to use his forward momentum to blast through to restore the Bulls’ healthy advantage.
On the stroke of half-time a determined Aekins break was taken on by Atkin for Waqa Blake to run in the Bulls’ fifth try and take them a long way towards only their seventh win of the season.
A disjointed opening to the second half, with two captain’s challenge delays, resulted in a Daejarn Asi kick being successfully grounded by Mapapalangi with Weaver adding the extra two.
Bradford’s response saw Andy Ackers send a charging Ebon Scurr over to again give his side comfort.
Former Bull Alex Mellor’s determination, against an understandably tiring back line, earned another score, giving the Tigers’ renewed hope.
But despite being forced to drop out on several occasions, it wasn’t until the clock ran dead that Mapapalangi crossed once more for a further consolation.
GAMESTAR: Caleb Aekins was always lively and at the heart of a great defensive effort.
GAMEBREAKER: Tyler Dupree fumbled a Bradford drop-out with nine minutes remaining, which broke Castleford’s latest momentum.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: The Caleb Aekins break from halfway leading to Waqa Blake’s try on the stroke of half-time.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Caleb Aekins (Bradford)
2 pts Dan Russell (Bradford)
1 pt Kristian Mapapalangi (Castleford)
MATCHFACTS
BULLS
1 Caleb Aekins
2 Jayden Okunbor
11 Dan Russell
4 Waqa Blake
23 Connor Wynne
38 Riley Dean
32 Chris Atkin
8 Ryan Sutton
9 Andy Ackers
16 Ebon Scurr
19 Will Gardiner
34 Phoenix Steinwede
13 Joe Mellor
Subs (all used)
22 Luke Hooley
25 Eliot Peposhi
28 Jamie Gill
30 Leon Ruan
18th man (not used)
27 Alfie Leake
Also in 20-man squad
10 Loghan Lewis
36 Harvey Ward
Tries: Dean (5), Wynne (13), Aekins (19), Russell (34), Blake (40), Scurr (52)
Goals: Atkin 4/6
TIGERS
35 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
5 Mikaele Ravalawa
12 Alex Mellor
23 Krystian Mapapalangi
21 Louis Senior
6 Daejarn Asi
7 Tom Weaver
36 Tyler Dupree
9 Liam Hood
10 George Lawler
11 Jordan Lane
14 Brock Greacen
13 Joe Stimson
Subs (all used)
25 Sam Hall
39 Jack Brown
41 Lazarus Vaalepu
43 Ben McNamara
18th man (not used)
26 Alfie Lindsey
Also in 21-man squad
8 Renouf Atoni
32 George Hirst
40 Tylor Sharpe
Tries: Senior (21), Mapapalangi (47, 80), Mellor (66)
Goals: Weaver 3/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 18-4, 22-4, 26-4; 26-10, 32-10, 32-16, 32-22
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Man of the Match
Bulls: Caleb Aekins; Tigers: Krystian Mapapalangi
Penalty count: 6-9
Half-time: 26-4
Referee: Matty Lynn
Attendance: 6,786