Collins' late try halts Bradford in their tracks
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Your support makes all the difference.Bradford suffered the first blemish to the only perfect record in Super League as Steve Collins' try five minutes from time gave Hull a deserved share of the spoils at the Boulevard last night.
Hull had battered a Bradford side forced to draw deep on their reserves four days after the Challenge Cup triumph but were held at bay for most of the second half.
Then Tony Grimaldi engineered a rare overlap outside the determined Bulls defence and Collins touched down. Richard Horne could not add what would have been the winning goal and a thrilling contest ended in some confusion when the final hooter sounded but neither the referee nor most of the players heard it.
Bradford fielded a starting line-up with only four of the players who began the final at Murrayfield, but hardly looked a weakened side in the first quarter, taking an eight-point lead with two goals from Paul Deacon and a try from Leon Pryce after he stole the ball from Craig Poucher.
Hull had not helped themselves with some ragged play, but they gradually found their rhythm as the half went on and reduced the lead when Will Robinson's kick eluded Tevita Vaikona for Bird to run away and score.
The home side had the better of it after the break as Bradford battled against their increasing fatigue, but they seemed to have missed their best chance when Bird kicked ahead and re-gathered only for Robinson to knock on as the line approached.
Bradford, with young players such as Pryce and the stand-in full-back Paul Sykes outstanding in defence, almost held out, but even with a full complement on the pitch they will not have many more searching examinations than this and will have been pleased to come away still unbeaten in all competitions this year.
Hull: Sammut; Poucher, Collins, Maiden, Bird, Horne; Robinson, Hick; Jenkins, Felsch, Maher, McDonald, Grimaldi. Substitutes used: Gene, Broadbent, Wilson.
Bradford Bulls: Sykes; Vaikona, Naylor, Boyle, Pryce; R Paul, Deacon; Fielden, Lowes, Harmon, Smith, Dwyer, Radford.
Substitutes used: Mackay, Forshaw, Peacock, Anderson.
Referee: S Cummings (Widnes).
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