Fading Bulls fall to Dragons

Catalans Dragons moved off the foot of the engage Super League table with a 24-22 triumph over Bradford at the Grattan Odsal Stadium.

The French side followed up their thrilling home triumph over Warrington with a tense victory on their travels that sees them move above Harlequins.

Early tries from Setaimata Sa and Sebastien Raguin put them on course for a morale-boosting result ahead of their Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final against the Wolves next weekend.

In contrast the Bulls saw their club record losing run extended to 11 matches, leaving them with an uphill struggle to make it into the top eight.

Dream start

Les Catalans got off to a dream start with a third-minute try from Sa, who crossed virtually untouched straight from a scrum 10 metres out.

Thomas Bosc added the conversion and then set up centre Raguin for a second Dragons try after nine minutes, though this time he missed the extras.

The Bulls responded midway through the opening half with a score from skipper Andy Lynch, the forward fending off a tackler to open up a gap. Paul Sykes added the conversion to make it 10-6.

However the hosts were dealt a blow seven minutes before the break when Michael Worrincy paid the penalty for a series of infringements with a spell in the sin bin.

It didn't take long for Les Catalans to make the most of their numerical advantage, winger Steve Bell collecting Brent Sherwin's high kick in the corner to grab a try that Bosc superbly converted from the touchline.

Trailing 16-6 at the break, Bradford hit back at the start of the second half.

Substitute Tom Olbison took a pass from Heath L'Estrange to score his first try for the club within two minutes of the re-start, despite the fact that Worrincy was still off the field.

Sykes' second goal made it 16-12 and they were level six minutes later when Steve Menzies pounced on L'Estrange's kick out wide.

Stormed ahead

The home fans sensed they could finally be about to see their team win again when they went ahead for the first time through Michael Platt's try. Sykes kicked his third goal to make it 22-16 - Bradford having stormed ahead thanks to 16 unanswered points in as many minutes.

Their lead proved shortlived, however, as Olivier Elima, who has been linked with a move to the Bulls, charged onto Bosc's well-timed pass to get over.

Bosc levelled the scores with the conversion and then edged the Dragons - who were without head coach Kevin Walters following the death of his father, Kevin snr - back in front with a penalty three minutes later.

They just about managed to cling on their advantage through to the final hooter, though Bradford declined a glorious opportunity to draw level when Sykes opted to run a penalty instead of going for goal.