Bulls miss out on play-offs
Bradford missed out on the chance of securing a top-eight finish after suffering a 50-26 defeat to the Catalan Dragons.
Last Updated: 08/09/12 5:31pm
Bradford missed out on the chance of securing a top-eight finish after suffering a 50-26 defeat to the Catalan Dragons in Perpignan.
The Bulls needed to win to pressurise Wakefield, but Mick Potter's men were unable to pull off a shock win in the south of France.
Jarrod Sammut scored four for the visitors, but it was not enough as the Dragons outscored Bradford by scored eight tries to five.
Clint Greenshields was the stand-out player for Catalan, wrapping up his hat-trick late on after collecting Scott Dureau's grubber kick.
Catalan have now secured fourth in the standings, meaning a trip to League Leaders' Shield winners the Wigan Warriors in the play-offs.
Opening try
Michael Platt slipped over for Bradford's opening try and scrum-half Sammut followed suit for the first of his four efforts to give the Yorkshire side the perfect start before the Dragons bounced back.
Greenshields found his way through gap in the Bull defence to dab down under pressure before Vincent Duport, Setaimata Sa and Louis Anderson slipped over to turn the match around, the Perpignan outfit now 22-10 to the good.
Potter's charges showed their fighting spirit to reduce the deficit to two points at the break, Sammut going over in the left corner before completing his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time when he kicked the ball over a Catalan defender before racing clear and crossing.
The fightback proved shortlived, however, as the home side scored a further four tries without reply, Steve Menzies grabbing a breakaway score before Darren Millard went over in the corner and Greenshields sold a dummy to Sammut before cruising over.
Dureau and Sammut, with his fourth four-pointer of the contest, exchanged 80m interception tries before Greenshields completed his treble after latching onto a lovely chipped kick from Dureau to dab down.