Deacon marked his return from a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined for nearly a month with a controlled display that included seven goals, one try and clever kicks that led to scores for James Evans and Matt Cook.

Wayne Godwin, Terry Newton, Joe Vagana and Ben Jeffries also crossed as Bradford cruised home against the Challenge Cup finalists.

Bradford were banking on home advantage as they looked to avoid the ignominy of missing out on the play-offs for the first time.

The Bulls reached five successive Grand Finals under Brian Noble but four defeats in their last five matches dashed their hopes of a home tie and brought them back into the chasing pack amid genuine fears they could miss out on a top-six finish.

But those four defeats were all away from home and coach Steve McNamara knew that victory against Hull and Hull KR on Monday week would guarantee them a play-off place.

The Bulls raced into a 12-0 lead before the visitors had managed to touch the ball and they never looked back.

Craig Hall's kick-off flew out on the full and Evans pounced on Deacon's grubber kick after only 78 seconds as the Bulls made a brilliant start.

It got even better for Steve McNamara's side two minutes later as Jeffries sliced through Hull's defence and fed Newton on his inside shoulder.

The Bradford hooker managed to fend off Matt Sing on his way to the line.

The visitors gradually worked their way back into contention after Motu Tony marked his 100th Hull appearance with an opportunistic dart from dummy-half.

Both sides were reduced to 12 men when Semi Tadulala and Jamie Thackray were sin-binned following a fiery altercation and Hull took advantage of the extra space when Willie Manu and Hall set Sing clear on the right flank.

However, that was as good as it got for Richard Agar's side and they were simply blown away after the interval.

Godwin went over from close range within two minutes of the restart and Cook followed when Paul Sykes collected Deacon's clever chip kick.

Kirk Yeaman's second-half effort counted for little when Deacon stepped through Hull's defence midway through the second half before Vagana and Jeffries wrapped up a convincing win in the closing minutes.

Bradford boss Steve McNamara praised scrum-half Deacon for his inspirational performance.

"Paul Deacon was really good for us today," said McNamara.

"He's missed a lot of the season and was desperate to get back in there and in form. He was really excited about playing, and that showed in his performance out there.

"His try will be good for his confidence. He's managed to get back playing before the end of the season – and he's found some good form too.

"Paul played well himself. But he made some others do things out there – which is very pleasing."

Bulls are hoping to sign New Zealand international forward Fuifui Moimoi from Parramatta.

Reports in Australia suggest the prop, nicknamed 'Car Crash' for the damage his blockbusting runs do to opposition defences, is close to agreeing a deal with the Bulls, although Parramatta say they will only sanction his release if they find a suitable replacement.

McNamara said: "We're interested in signing some more quality players.

"We've certainly got that already in Steve Menzies, and Fuifui Moimoi would be another. We're monitoring the situation and we are interested."

Hull coach Richard Agar was left to rue two five-minute spells at the beginning and end of the match, during which his side conceded four tries.

"I'm disappointed by the scoreline," admitted the man who takes his side into a Challenge Cup final at Wembley in two weeks against runaway leaders St Helens.

"The start and the finish put a heavy slant on it, when some of our blokes didn't deserve it.

"I think a good performance is important next Friday against Harlequins. We've had two very ordinary performances, and it's important we try to take a good performance into the Challenge Cup final.

"Some of our errors are schoolboy stuff – kicking the ball and catching the ball.

"To kick the ball out on the full twice is criminal, and it's the second week running."


Bradford: Halley, Evans, Sykes, Nero, Tadulala, Jeffries, Deacon, Vagana, Newton, Lynch, Cook, Finnigan, Langley. Substitutes: Johnson, Godwin, Solomona, Kopczak.

Hull: Tony, Sing, Yeaman, Hall, Briscoe, Washbrook, Berrigan, Cusack, Houghton, Dowes, Manu, G. Horne, Radford. Substitutes: Wheeldon, Thackray, Lee, Burnett.
Referee: I Smith (Oldham).