Leeds light up Sinfield's record night as Bradford are crushed

BRADFORD BULLS 14pts LEEDS RHINOS 30pts

They opened up an eight-point lead at the top after beating arch rivals Bradford Bulls for the third time this season last night.

Collared: Bradford¿s Newton held by Bailey and Burgess

There were times when Leeds made hard work of it but the Bulls may have lost this game in training on Thursday when they suffered a triple injury blow.

They were brave enough as they battled for the local bragging rights and twice got their noses in front but Rhinos had an extra gear and the returning Ali Lauitiiti came up with a game-breaking try.

Leeds coach Brian McClennan said: "We were never comfortable but we got there in the end. Now we can look forward to taking on Wigan in the Challenge Cup. Brent Webb was superb, he must be the best supporting full back in the world.'"

The odds favoured Leeds after their two impressive wins over the Bulls this season and favoured them even more after Bradford lost Paul Deacon and Iestyn Harris with hamstring injuries and James Evans, to back trouble, in training.

The Bulls were grateful for the returns of New Zealand Test men, centre Shontayne Hape and veteran prop forward Joe Vagana. But the injury crisis meant they had to name reserve hooker Keal Carlile, 17, on the bench.

So it all pointed to another Leeds victory with skipper Kevin Sinfield only needing a point to break Andrew Farrell's nine-year-old record of scoring in 48 consecutive Super League games.

Adversity can inspire, however, and the Bulls took the fight to the Rhinos from the first, hooker Terry Newton  unlucky to have the ball stripped from his grasp in the act of scoring.

The disappointment did not last long, Newton supplying the short pass for David Solomona to force his way over.

Leeds had another fright when Bradford winger Dave Halley chased his own kick to their line but had clearly knocked on.

He did not a few minutes later when he collected a Ben Jeffries kick to score. But Bradford then lost prolific try-scoring winger Semi Tadulala with a dislocated shoulder just as Leeds were responding like champions to falling behind.

A try in the corner from stand off Danny McGuire gave Sinfield the goal that provided him with his Super League record. His next goal embellished a try from Rob Burrow and Leeds led 12-8 at the break.

Leeds should have started the second half with a Webb try but he dropped Scott Donald's pass after Keith Senior had made the break.

But the tougher it got, the more Bradford battled and Newton's pass sent Tadulala's replacement, Tame Tupou, over in the corner, Sykes converting to push the Bulls back in the lead at 14-12.

Tupou dived in at the corner three minutes later but was ruled to have put his foot in touch and Bradford's frustration was compounded when the champions hit them with two tries under the posts, from Lauitiiti and Webb.

Gutsy Bradford, with Newton outstanding, never gave up but Senior wrapped up another Leeds win with a last-minute touchdown. Bradford coach Steve McNamara: "I think the players were a bit shell-shocked with the injuries we suffered in practice but their effort was outstanding and they deserved a bit more. The game was a lot closer than the score suggests."