Mighty Quins flatten Bulls

Harlequins heaped further misery on struggling Bradford with a comprehensive 35-18 victory at the Twickenham Stoop.

Ben Jones-Bishop, who is on loan from Leeds, grabbed a try in each half as the hosts put an end to a four-game losing streak in emphatic fashion.

In contrast the Bulls find themselves now without a win in their last eight outings, a dreadful run of form that has seen them slip out of the top eight.

They simply never managed to recover from a shocking start on their travels against a side coached by Brian McDermott - a strong candidate to take over from the departing Steve McNamara at the Grattan Odsal Stadium.

Committed

The Quins coach this week insisted he was happy to remain with the capital club and his players certainly did him proud in their first-ever Friday night home game.

After Bradford twice coughed up possession in the opening five minutes, Luke Dorn burst through to touch down after good work from Luke Gale.

The lead was soon doubled when Tony Clubb smashed through the defensive line before offloading for Andy Ellis to score underneath the posts.

Despite being without several first-teamers Quins were playing at a ferocious pace and a third try came about when Dorn collected Paul Sykes' kick and galloped away to set up a simple finish for Jones-Bishop.

Bradford eventually recovered from the onslaught to score themselves, though Elliot Whitehead's effort seemed to come via a forward pass.

A penalty awarded for dissent allowed Danny Orr to kick two points for Quins before the half came to an end with a drop goal from Luke Gale.

Strong start

Perhaps fired up following some strong words from McNamara during the break, the Bulls started the second half strongly.

Craig Kopczak set up Sykes to score and with the momentum suddenly in their favour, the away team looked set to claw their way back into the contest.

All their early efforts were quickly undone though when Steve Menzies and Michael Worrincy were penalised in quick succession, giving the home side the opportunity to create a second try for Jones-Bishop.

When Menzies was sent to the sin-bin Bradford knew it wouldn't be their night, Orr kicking the resulting penalty before booting over two more to seal the win.

Chris Melling rounded off a flowing move featuring Will Sharp and Jones-Bishop to score the pick of the home team's tries and although Steve Crossley did cross late on for the Bulls, it was a mere consolation.