Crusaders stun Bradford

John Dixon's men led for all but the first seven minutes of the game, although the error-prone Bulls rallied in the second half to set up a tense finale. Paul Sykes set Crusaders alarm bells ringing when he crossed with just over two minutes remaining, cutting the deficit to 26-24, but Luke Dyer's second try in the closing seconds settled the game.

"That will give us a lot of belief we can win games," said proud coach John Dixon. "I always felt we could compete but this will give us a bank of knowledge to say yes we can, and that we can survive an onslaught and come through it."

He added: "With this win, there is belief in there now, there is a spring in their step. It's priceless."

High-flying Huddersfield also slipped up to lowly opposition, suffering a surprise 20-4 defeat to Salford at home.

Teenager Richie Myler was again outstanding for the Reds, scoring a try and setting up another for John Wilshere, who himself added four goals.

On-loan Darrell Goulding and Mark Henry also claimed tries as Salford punished an error-strewn Giants performance. Luke Robinson's try was Huddersfield's only reply.

Reds coach Shaun McRae said: "It was our most controlled and disciplined performance of the season but Huddersfield opened us up a few times and we had to scramble back to keep them out.

"Sometimes the scoreboard doesn't reflect the way a game went and if Huddersfield had taken their chances it would have made a difference, so credit must go to our defence."

Harlequins moved up to fourth in the table with a 24-17 win over Wakefield at the Twickenham Stoop.