Raging Bulls crush Dragons

Burgess: Try

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A resurgent Bradford continued their winning streak with a crushing 42-18 victory over Catalans at Odsal on Sunday.

The result was the third consecutive win and the fourth in five games for the Bulls although their revival in fortunes would appear to have come too late to clinch a place in the Super league play offs.

Four first-half tries from Sam Burgess, Rikki Sheriffe, Chris Nero and Steve Menzies, effectively put the game out of reach of their French visitors.

And second half scores from Wayne Godwin, Paul Sykes, Paul Deacon and Glenn Morrison sealed an emphatic win for the Yorkshiremen.

It was Catalans though who put the first points on the board Sebastien Raguin touching down in the 11th minute and Gregory Mounis slotting the conversion.

Seven minutes later came Bradford's reply, Burgess coming off the bench to release Jamie Langley before taking the reverse pass to cross between the posts, with Deacon adding the extras.

Commanding

Burgess was involved again in the 32nd minute, bursting through midfield and keeping the ball alive in the tackle.

Langley found Michael Platt with the recycled ball and he sent Sheriffe in at the right corner. This time however Deacon failed to convert.

But three minutes later he created his side's third try, sending a teasing kick over to the left which Nero pounced on in the corner.

The fourth came when Halley seized on a mistake in the Catalans backline and put Menzies in from close range.

Deacon converted to give his side a commanding 20-6 lead at the halfway mark.

Bradford continued to dominate after the break Godwin showed impressive strength to burrow his way over the line after 52 minutes.

Dominance

Deacon added the extras and three minutes later Sykes' delightful footwork saw him weave through a stunned Catalans defence for a fine individual try.

Again Deacon was on target with the boot and then bagged a try of his own on 58 minutes, which he converted himself.

Cyrille Gossard caught Bradford napping to claim a score for Catalans and Mounis added the extras with his conversion.

But it did little to mask Bradford's dominance and the frailties of a pitiful Catalans defence.

The result takes Bradford to 21 points but they must beat Salford and Hull in their two remaining games and hope other results go their way if they are to secure an unlikely top-eight finish.

Catalans' own play-off hopes remain in the balance after this defeat and coach Kevin Walters was left bitterly disappointed by his side's alarming collapse.