Bradford Bulls halfback Luke Gale scored four tries as the Bulls fought back in a topsy-turvy encounter at The Hive today to emerge with a 36-46 victory against London Broncos.
Gale, playing his last game for the Bulls before joining Castleford next season, gave a great display of support play, and the Bulls’ other star was prop forward Manase Manuofakoa, who will join Widnes Vikings next season.
Gale scored his first two tries after six minutes, both converted by Jamie Foster, and Joe Arundel extended the lead to 16 points after twelve minutes.
But then the Broncos fought back, scoring 30 points without reply.
It began with a Matt Cook try, with Joe Keyes, Josh Drinkwater, Erjon Dollapi and Nick Slyney all touching down to give the Broncos a 30-16 lead after 52 minutes.
With both sides playing their final game in Super League before their relegation to the Championship next season, the Bulls looked to be in big trouble, particularly without Lee Gaskell, who was out injured.
But their fightback began with Brett Kearney pouncing on a Foster grubber and Jay Pitts powered over aftger 63 minutes, with Foster adding both conversions to bring the score to 30-28.
And Gale scored his hat-trick try to put the Bulls ahead by four with the conversion from Foster, although the Broncos snatched the lead again with a try from Drinkwater and his conversion of his own try gave the home side a two point lead.
But as the Broncos tired, the Bulls scored two tries in the last four minutes, with Gale adding his fourth and Manuofakoa scoring the Bulls’ final try to seal victory.
A full report and photos from this game will feature in Monday’s edition of Rugby League Express.
