Play-offs beckon for Bulls
Paul Deacon was in inspirational form as Bradford beat Hull to all but secure their Super League play-off place.
Last Updated: 17/08/08 4:57pm
Paul Deacon was in inspirational form as Bradford beat Hull to all but secure their Super League play-off place.
Deacon marked his return from a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined for nearly a month with a controlled display that included seven goals, one try and clever kicks that led to scores for James Evans and Matt Cook.
Wayne Godwin, Terry Newton, Joe Vagana and Ben Jeffries also crossed as Bradford cruised home against the Challenge Cup finalists.
The Bulls got off to a flying start, racing into a 12-0 lead before the visitors had managed a spell in possession.
Craig Hall's kick-off flew out on the full and Evans pounced on Deacon's grubber kick after only 78 seconds as the Bulls made a brilliant start.
It got even better for Steve McNamara's side two minutes later as Jeffries sliced through Hull's defence and fed Newton on his inside shoulder. The Bradford hooker managed to fend off Matt Sing on his way to the line.
Opportunist
The visitors gradually worked their way back into contention after Motu Tony marked his 100th Hull appearance with an opportunistic dart from dummy-half.
Both sides were reduced to 12 men when Semi Tadulala and Jamie Thackray were sin-binned following a fiery altercation and Hull took advantage of the extra space when Willie Manu and Hall set Sing clear on the right flank.
However, that was as good as it got for Richard Agar's side and they were simply blown away after the interval.
Godwin went over from close range within two minutes of the restart and Cook followed when Paul Sykes collected Deacon's clever chip kick.
Kirk Yeaman's second-half effort counted for little when Deacon stepped through Hull's defence midway through the second half before Vagana and Jeffries wrapped up a convincing win in the closing minutes.
