Hunslet 6 Bradford Bulls 68: Hawks are crushed by Bradford in 13-try rout

Bradford Bulls bounced back in the best way possible from defeat to Featherstone Rovers by putting the Hunslet Hawks to the sword, running in 13 tries in a 6-68 victory.

Jake Mullaney was the star, running in four tries, including a hat-trick in the first half-hour as the Bulls blew their hosts away with a superb display of running rugby. Once Adam O’Brien opened the scoring in the fifth minute, backing up to cash in on a Mullaney break, Bradford were rampant.

They crossed the line seven times in the first half, with Matty Blythe, James Mendeika and Ryan Shaw all touching down, with only a short-range effort from Jack Lee giving the Hunslet fans in a bumper crowd something to shout about.

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The second half was much the same, although Hunslet did enjoy a period of pressure on the Bradford line which saw them have four consecutive sets of tackles. But a loose pass was picked up by Danny Williams who raced 80 yards for the first of his second-half hat-trick.

The Hawks were their own worst enemy for much of the afternoon with far too many missed tackles and spilled balls. Even the outstanding Jordan Lilley was culpable of an error when he tried to keep the ball in play to prevent a 40-20, only succeeding in putting a try on a plate for Etu Uaisele.

It was left to Mullaney to finish the scoring for the afternoon, once again evading a weak Hunslet tackle to race 40 yards to touch down in the corner.

Hunslet: Lilley, Barnett, Maun, Mvududu, Agoro, Grimshaw, Brown, Haley, Lee, Houston, Walters, Gee, Mulhern. Substitutes: Flanagan, Lyons, Trout, Backhouse.

Bradford: Shaw, Williams, Blythe, Mendeika, Uaisele, Mullaney, Addy, Clough, O’Brien, Sidlow, Olbison, Walker, Pitts. Substitutes: Halafihi, Fleming, Ferguson, Crossley.

Referee: T Crashley (RFL).