Bulls shut out sorry Giants

Paul Sykes: Two tries

Bradford boosted their Super League play-off hopes with a shock 36-0 thrashing of Huddersfield at Odsal Stadium on Sunday.

The Bulls are now just three points behind eighth-placed Hull with five games to play while the result has virtually ended the Giants' quest for a top-two spot.

Paul Sykes scored a brace of tries in the first half while Ben Jeffries and Michael Platt also crossed before scores from Patrick Ah Van and Brett Kearney after the break ended their two-game losing run in emphatic fashion.

Ah Van added the extras to three tries as well as a penalty, while Sykes converted Kearney's try and a penalty of his own.

Fourth-placed Huddersfield produced a poor performance in blustery conditions and not even the return of star scrum-half Danny Brough, who made his first appearance in six games following an ankle injury, was able to inspire them.

Nathan Brown's men have now lost their last four away games to slip further behind leaders Wigan and second-placed Warrington.

Bouncing back

Bradford had conceded 34 points against both Catalan Dragons and Castleford in their previous two matches but their backline was almost flawless on this occasion as they reminded everyone of their credentials.

They were equally impressive on the offence, although they were indebted to several Huddersfield errors to set them on their way.

David Hodgson's knock-on deep in his own half gave Bradford possession, while the visitors were penalised twice more before the ball was scrambled to Bryn Hargreaves and his short pass allowed Jeffries to exploit a gap in the defence to open the scoring.

With the bit between their teeth, Bradford attacked with venom and when Hodgson had been dragged into touch after collecting Jeffries' chip, the ball was quickly manouevred to Sykes on the right to crash over.

Brown had stressed the need for improvement following their defeat to Warrington but they were firmly on the back foot and when they finally put pressure on Bradford, Larne Patrick dropped the ball inches short of the try line.

The second-rower was made to pay for his profligacy when Sykes squirmed free of the Huddersfield defence to cross five minutes later.

The hosts were a scarcely believable 22-0 up by half-time when Scott Grix's kick was charged down by opposite number Platt, who collected the ball before charging over.

Stunned

Shell-shocked Huddersfield thought they had made an ideal start to the second half when Joe Wardle finally broke through Bradford's barriers, but his effort was chalked off due to obstruction in the build-up.

Huddersfield were once again penalised when James Donaldson was held down by Danny Kirmond and Bradford decided to take the two points, with Ah Van successfully kicking over from 30 yards in front of the posts.

Sykes took over kicking duties and added a much trickier kick five minutes later following another Huddersfield error.

Eorl Crabtree was sin-binned for persistent offending, while the visitors' woes were further deepened when Ah Van touched down after the ball had been spread to the right wing on Bradford's next set of six.

And Kearney got in on the act when he latched on to Marc Herbert's pass to dash over in the left corner to complete the rout.