Bradford Bulls miss out on third place after disappointing collapse against Whitehaven

Bradford Bulls suffered a third straight defeat as Whitehaven left Odsal with a 36-22 win to secure their place in the play-offs.

Five unanswered tries in the space of 25 minutes by the Cumbrian side proved to be enough for Gary Charlton’s side to secure the victory.

The Bulls started the quicker of the two sides and after a mix-up at the back, Ben Evans bulldozed his way through to open the scoring.

A second try came shortly after as the home side worked the ball to the left. Danny Brough found Aaron Murphy who went over the line with ease.

Straight after the second, John Kear’s side nearly had a third. Brough’s kick found Evans but he was held up just on the line.

Chances were coming for the Bulls, brilliant play allowed David Foggin-Johnstone to get on the ball down the left but he was denied by a good challenge from the Whitehaven defence as the ball was knocked away.

Haven’s defence was resilient but the pressure was taking its toll. The third try came when Foggin-Johnstone received the ball on the left and barged his way to the line, although Brough couldn’t convert his kick meaning the score stayed at 16-0.

Whitehaven needed to respond and missed their biggest chance of the game. Dion Aiye charged through the middle and threw to Louis Jouffret, who was in acres of space, but he dropped the ball.

The away side were able to get on the score sheet. Jouffret’s kick found Lachlan Walmsley, he passed the ball to Tom Walker for the prop to go over the line and score.

Haven began to control the game and scored again, as the same combination of Jouffret and Walmsley caused problems again. This time the ball found Tom Wilkinson who dummied a pass and went over to score.

The comeback was completed early in the second half. Brad England was outfoxed by a great move from the away side and former Bulls man Greg McNally levelled the score. Walmsley added the extra two from the kick to give his side the lead.

It was soon four tries in quick succession as Walmsley ran through the home defence and slipped it to the right for Chris Taylor who added the fourth.

The Bulls’ sluggish start to the second half continued. Sloppy defending allowed Aiye to break through the middle, and he laid a simple pass to the right to allow Jouffret to score under the posts.

Frustrations were starting to build in the Bulls camp. A chance to get the scoreboard rolling again was missed when Eldon Myers and Rhys Evans combined well but the latter was stopped near the line and the Bulls wasted a promising attack.

Walmsley, who had been instrumental in the Whitehaven comeback, added the sixth try for his side. He plucked the ball out of the air from a kick and spun over the line.

Ben Evans did give the Bulls another try but it was too little too late as Whitehaven secured their place in the play-offs and the Bulls settling for fourth place.

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