Bradford Bulls 54 London Skolars 16: Skolars unable to tame Bulls in defeat

London Skolars were beaten 54-16 on their trip to Bradford Bulls in Betfred League One.

Skolars put up a determined effort at Odsal, but were outplayed by Bulls who were World Club champions 12 year ago.

Bradford have dropped down the leagues since then following a series of financial problems, but they looked like a side set to gain promotion as they ran in 11 tries.

Brandon Pickersgill opened up the scoring on eight minutes supporting a break.

That was followed by two tries by Ethan Ryan: the first from a high kick to the corner, the second a dive that evaded the defence.

Bulls added a fourth when Elliot Hall went for a high ball and aggravated an injury sustained in the warm-up, with Welsh international Dalton Grant being the grateful recipient as the ball went to ground over the tryline.

Ryan Burroughs opened up the scoring for London after they swung the ball out to the wing after a Bradford error.

Ross Peltier was unstoppable from close range for the home side and Lee Smith’s try on the hooter put them 28-4 ahead at the break.

Skolars’ problems worsened when Rob Butler was sin-binned for his part in a tackle that tipped a Bradford player over horizontally in the air.

Bulls scored two tries in his absence, Ashley Gibson scoring before Ryan completed his hat-trick.

Eddie Mbaraga made a number of good runs though the game before barged his way over to score Skolars’ second try, but high kicks by Bradford to both wings saw Grant and Ryan score again.

A miskick by Neil Thorman saw the defensive line split and Phil Lyon was able to gather the ball to touchdown, with Thorman adding his second conversion of the afternoon.

The crowd of over 3,000 saw Bulls pass the half-century just before the end of the game when Callum Bustin used his power to evade the defence.

London return home on Saturday when they welcome Whitehaven to the New River Stadium for a 3pm kick off.

And Skolars will hope they do not find themselves on the end of another defeat after the loss at Bulls.