Rhinos hold off brave Bulls

Rob Burrow scored a superb try late on to help Leeds Rhinos kill off a Bradford comeback in a thrilling Yorkshire derby.

The Rhinos raced into an early 16-2 lead at Headingley Carnegie courtesy of two tries from Ryan Hall and another from Jamie Jones-Buchanan.

However, the Bulls hit back to take the lead as Semi Tadulala, Paul Deacon and Steve Menzies scored but Leeds prevailed in the end to win by 13 points.

Burrow's individual effort reclaimed the lead and Scott Donald applied the finishing touches in injury time to make it 33-20 after a Lee Smith drop goal.

Revenge

Second-placed Leeds went into the game looking for revenge over their rivals after the under-achieving Bulls secured a rare victory over them in April.

Bradford put the first points on the board with a Deacon penalty in the second minute but the hosts hit their stride soon afterwards.

The Rhinos peppered the Bulls' line and finally broke through on five minutes when Keith Senior, making his 499th professional appearance, powered forward and fed Hall with a smart offload.

Another try followed shortly after when full-back Brent Webb burst through a gap and handed-off to Senior, who again set up Hall out wide.

Leeds then had to switch their focus to defence but held firm after conceding two quick penalties inside their own half. Bradford continued to press hard but a promising attack broke down when Paul Sykes fumbled under pressure.

That allowed the defending champions to come forward once again and the hosts took full advantage when Burrow won a drop-out and guided Jones-Buchanan through from the resulting possession with a brilliant delayed pass.

Captain Kevin Sinfield's second conversion put the Rhinos into a 16-2 lead but Tadulala began Bradford's recovery from a seemingly impossible position.

The Fijian seemed to be isolated on the left touchline but was allowed to run and eventually found a gap to score on the right.

Deacon converted but despite a strong finish to the first half, Bradford went in 18-8 behind at the break after a late Sinfield penalty.

Tight

Bradford weathered an attacking storm from Leeds straight after half-time and pulled themselves right back into contention when Deacon went over from close range.

The Bulls sensed an opportunity and Dave Halley surged forward but was stopped just short after a Tadulala break.

However, play was switched to the left and Menzies finished the slick move, Deacon adding the goal to give the Bulls a two-point lead.

A Sinfield penalty levelled things up though before Deacon missed a kick of his own, allowing Leeds to seize the advantage once again through Burrow 13 minutes from time.

The scrum-half deftly beat Michael Worrincy on the right and powered inside to beat the desperate dive of Halley and score by the posts.

Sinfield added the extras before Smith nailed a drop-kick after an attempt from the Leeds captain had been charged down.

That broke the Bulls' spirits and Donald rubbed saly in their wounds right at the end when he crossed for Leeds' fifth try of the night.