A round seventeen Championship Yorkshire derby saw the sixth placed Bradford Bulls looking to cement their place in the top six with a win over tenth a Keighley Cougars in tenth spot who knew that a win could lift them to eighth should other results go their way.
It was honours shared in the first two meetings between the two sides so far in the season with Keighley winning their home game in March by 34-6 while Bradford won the Summer Bash game in York at the end of May by 42-18.
Bradford were firm favourites for the win as the Cougars are struggling for form with the bookies giving the visitors a twenty-point start on the coupon. Keighley did pick up a win last time out against Whitehaven, but it was their first since the 7th May.
With just a couple of minutes on the clock the Bulls had a try ruled out for a knock-on but the opening minutes were all Bradford attack and Keighley defence. On five minutes Ben Blackmore took a Lee Gaskell cross field kick to score in the corner. Patton added the conversion from wide for a 6-0 lead.
AJ Wallace went in for the Bulls on eleven as he took a Gaskell pass to go over close to the sticks. Patton was again on target, a brilliant start for the home side.
A pinpoint cross field kick from Patton was collected by George Taufua to score a try in the corner on his debut, Patton was unable to add the conversion from wide but within a couple of minutes he got another chance when the Bulls went in again, with Wallace taking the pass from Gaskell to cross for his second. This time Patton converted for a 22-0 lead.
Aaron Levy grabbed one back on thirty-three on the back of a series of Keighley penalties and Harvey Spence added the conversion and the visitors were sixteen points behind at the interval.
Ebon Scurr gave the Bulls the perfect start to the second half as he took a James Segayaro pass to go over under the sticks. Patton added the conversion for 28-6, the Bulls over their slight blip towards the end of the first half.
Connor Wynne touched down a Segayaro grubber on forty-four as the Bulls benefitted from two set restarts. Patton was on target with the boot, the Bulls running away with the game. In under two minutes the Bulls were in again, this time through Taufua who took an Arundel pass after the centre had sprinted down the wing. Patton put his touchline kick wide.
Kieran Gill touched down a Patton grubber to the corner on forty-eight, a devastating period for the Bulls as he scored their seventh of the afternoon. Patton added a sixth goal for 44-6.
Taufua completed his hat-trick on fifty-two minutes as he strolled through a non-existent Keighley defence for the simplest of his three tries. Patton added the conversion to bring up the fifty. Gill was next up in the Bulls procession as he got his second of the afternoon as he picked a Patton cross field kick out of the air and grounded. Patton added the conversion for 56-6. It was an annihilation.
Gaskell and Arundel combined on sixty-four to put Blackmore into space to get his second try of the afternoon as the Bulls hit sixty. Patton hit the mark with his conversion.
Charlie Graham grabbed a consolation try on seventy-three after a decent period of Cougars pressure, but it did little to ease the embarrassment. Spence added the conversion for 62-12.
The Cougars gave up the ball on the restart and Gill took full advantage as he intercepted a poor pass to go in unopposed. Bodene Thompson kicked the conversion on his last game in the UK before returning to Australia. The Bulls with a 68-12 lead.
The seventy came up on seventy-nine as Wynne went from the back of the scrum to score by the uprights as he weaved his way to the line. As the hooter sounded, Thompson kicked his second conversion of the afternoon for a final score of 74-12. After the hooter referee Mikalauskas sent off a Keighley player for his part in a brawl after the final try.
The Bulls were electric as they demolished the Cougars, thanks to the devastating half back play of Gaskell and Patton who bossed the game from the first whistle to the final hoter. Thirteen tries and ten goals and a second half haul of fifty points was a humiliation for the Cougars but did the Bulls points difference a world of good as the head for the play off places.
Bradford Bulls: Wynne (2T), Blackmore (2T), Arundel, Gill (3T), Taufua (3T), Gaskell, Patton (8G), Matongo, Lilley, Lawrence, Butler, Wallace (2T), Thompson (G). Subs: England, Scurr (T), Appo, Segayaro. 18th Man: Foster.
Keighley Cougars: Roby, Stephenson, Graham (T), Oakley, Laulu-Togaga’e, Walker, Spence (2G), Bibby, Doyle, Everett, Robson, Adebiyi, Hird. Subs: Gaylor, Levy (T), Parker, Atkinson. 18th Man: Sweeting.
Half-Time: 22-6.
Full-Time: 72-12.
Score Progression: 4-0, 6-0, 10-0, 12-0, 16-0, 20-0, 22-0, 22-4, 22-6: HT: 26-6, 28-6, 32-6, 34-6, 38-6, 42-6, 44-6, 48-6, 50-6, 54-6, 56-6, 60-6, 62-6, 62-10, 62-12, 66-12, 68-12, 72-12, 74-12, (SO) :FT.
Lead Exchanges: Bradford.
Referee: Scott Mikalauskas.
