Bulls battle past Quins

Bradford were pushed hard by bottom club Harlequins before sealing a 19-12 victory at the Grattan Odsal Stadium.

The Bulls recovered from back-to-back defeats on their travels to triumph in front of their own fans - though they didn't make life easy for themselves.

Tries from Michael Platt and Brett Kearney gave them a 10-6 lead at the break after the visitors had broken the deadlock through Chris Melling.

Steve Menzies crossed for the hosts after the break but Quins refused to go away, Danny Orr's breakaway score setting up a tense finish.

Below par

In the end Bradford needed a penalty and a drop goal from Matt Orford, who was back from illness after missing the defeat at Hull, to make sure they picked up the two points from a sub-standard Super League encounter.

After withstanding an early onslaught from the hosts, Quins broke the deadlock after 13 minutes when Melling raced over, though the offload that set him up from Chad Randall looked a long way forward.

Orr stepped up to knock over the conversion and put the top-flight's cellar dwellers, who are still beset by injuries, 6-0 ahead on their travels.

However their joy at scoring didn't last too long at all, as they conceded almost straight away when a clever re-start caused panic.

While the visiting defence dithered Platt raced in to ground the loose ball, Orford missing the conversion as it bounced back out off an upright.

Despite the miss the score briefly brought the Bulls to life, though they failed to turn possession into points due to a series of handling errors.

Quins came close to extending their advantage when Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook's clever offload nearly set up Randall, only a fine intervention from Orford stopping the hooker going over.

Instead it was Bradford who were in front at the break, Platt setting up stand-off Kearney for a try that his half-back partner Orford also converted.

Cut loose

When Menzies showed some neat footwork to find his way to the line in the 52nd minute, Steve McNamara's side looked set to cut loose.

The Australian's effort, which stemmed from Kearney's initial break, failed to lead to a flood of points though, as Quins bravely kept themselves alive.

Some rock-solid defensive work meant they were within four points of their opponents when Orr galloped clear down the right for a try that was converted by the returning Luke Gale.

In the end the Bulls needed Orford's boot just to claim the spoils, the scrum-half following up a 71st minute penalty with a drop goal in the dying stages.