Halifax 34 Bradford Bulls 46: Bradford pushed all the way by battling Halifax

Despite winning just once in the Championship this season – a worrying run of form which will see them appoint former Bradford chief Brian Noble as their coaching consultant today – they delivered flashes of brilliance yesterday to leave their neighbours obviously worried at times.

They trailed just 32-28 after 52 minutes following a bizarre game in which defence seemed to matter little to either side.

Ten tries were conceded in a surreal first half where Halifax and Bradford took it in turns to make glaring errors and then fall off tackles on a regular basis. It was low quality but high entertainment.

Eventually, Bradford’s superior fitness came to the fore and, with Elliott Whitehead and Andy Lynch outstanding, they eased into the fifth round but their part-time opponents will look back knowing they missed a glorious chance to progress.

Such was the nervousness of erring Bradford, who in Adam O’Brien and John Bateman had two 17-year-old forwards, that they needed Patrick Ah Van to kick a penalty in the 66th minute to ease problems

One thing Halifax can take from it all though is that, with the match televised live on the BBC, they gave their bid for a Super League licence a timely boost although it still remains unlikely they will get the nod when the decision is made in July.

They were were fortunate not to play 79 minutes with 12 men after Sam Barlow produced a horrendous high tackle on Lynch in the very first play of the game.

The loose forward was lucky that the Bradford captain got to his feet almost immediately as, otherwise, referee Phil Bentham could have been tempted to show a red card.

Halifax’s eagerness to impress materialised in the shape of errors from the off though.

They missed touch from a penalty and then Jim Gannon threw an overly ambitious pass to concede possession from which Shad Royston – making his first return to Halifax since leaving last winter – slipped over from dummy half inside four minutes.

Ah Van scored the first of his seven goals but the visitors immediately lost Chev Walker with a suspected fractured foot causing a re-jig which saw second-row Whitehead forced into the centre.

Bradford capitalised again from another error, Stephen Bannister coughing up Graham Holroyd’s pass, although Royston’s delivery looked forward as he put Gareth Raynor into enough space to finish in the corner.

Fortunately for Halifax, Bradford decided they were going to have one of those days where their handling was not too classy either, gifting position to allow Gannon to barrel his way over from close range.

Holroyd converted but was then guilty of a bad mis-tackle on Michael Platt which allowed the centre to ease over and prompted Hliafx coach Matt Calland to haul his veteran scrum-half off in favour of the more youthful Danny Jones.

Makali Aizue and Sean Penkywicz entered at the same time and gave Halifax a real lift, the latter going over after exploiting poor line defence, Jones converting, and Papuan prop Aizue causing real problems with his explosive charges.

Whitehead showed genuine quality though to cut Halifax open out wide as he picked up a bouncing ball and dummied inside and then outside to complete a 40m score but the spirited hosts would not lie down.

The muscular Frank Watene finished off a splendid move which saw intricate passing from Ben Black and Penkywicz rip open Bradford’s bemused middle only for Penkywicz to be left with his head in his hands when his fired pass – which would have unleashed his wide men – was intercepted by Ah Van who strolled over.

The Halifax hooker tried making up for his gaffe by ripping possession from Bryn Hargreaves as the Bulls prop barrelled towards their line once more only to see it come loose to Tom Burgess, the 19-year-old front-row who continues to impress and scored his first senior try.

Halifax produced a short kick-off to win back possession and the tactic paid off as, with seconds before the hooter, Jones forced his way over, converting to make it 32-24 at the end of a frenetic half.

In an attempt to leave their part-time opponents breathless and utilise their own superior fitness, Bradford raced to every scrum from the first minute.

However, by conceding four first-half tries with that poor defence, they insured Halifax did get respite regardless and, at that point, it was hard to see who would come out on top.

When Barlow won the race to Black’s bouncing grubber just three minutes after the restart, and then the impressive Bulls forward Craig Kopczak, saw an effort chalked off by video referee Ben Thaler, Halifax fans in the 5,405 crowd may have thought the upset was on.

However, after Whitehead brilliantly stole the ball off Rob Worrincy, the robust winger who otherwise shone for Calland’s side, Ian Sibbit fired on to Marc Herbert’s pass and extended the lead.

Whitehead’s clever drop-off put Raynor racing over for the winger’s second – all too easily – and Bradford made sure when Ah Van slotted that penalty although, fittingly, Halifax gave their fans the last cheer when Bob Beswick scored at the death.

Halifax: Greenwood; White, Paterson, Nash, Worrincy; Holroyd, Black; Gannon, Beswick, Cherryholme, Smith, Bannister, Barlow. Substitutes: Jones, Aizue, Penkywicz, Watene.

Bradford: Royston; Ah Van, Platt, Walker, Raynor; Briggs, Herbert; Lynch, L’Estrange, Kopczak, Sibbit, Donaldson. Substitutes: Hargreaves, O’Brien, Burgess, Bateman.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington).

Frustrated Calland left to rue missed chances

HALIFAX head coach Matt Calland admits his side were left “frustrated” after realising they missed a golden opportunity to set up a Carnegie Challenge Cup tie with Super League champions Wigan.

They were edged 46-34 by Bradford Bulls in their much-anticipated fourth-round game yesterday squandering a real chance to cause a sizable upset.

Bradford – who will now host Wigan in the pick of the fifth round draw – were far from convincing against the part-timers and Calland conceded his men could have done so much more.

“It is disappointing,” he said.

“I was really pleased with the effort and commitment shown but I just thought we gave them too much ball coming out of our own half and that cost us in the end.

“Our completion was only 50 per cent so we were always going to struggle yet we’ve still blown two or three chances; we know we maybe could have won this match.

“It is frustrating but they are a great bunch of blokes and hopefully this can help us kick-start our season.”

The Championship Grand Final winners are stuck at the bottom of the league after winning just once this season, a statistic which has prompted the club to employ Brian Noble as a coaching consultant in a bid to aid Calland and his squad.

The former Bulls centre, who played under Noble when the ex-Great Britain chief was assistant at Odsal, said: “I’m really pleased by the appointment. It’s not often you get the chance to work under a world-class coach like Brian Noble.

“I’ve not really served an apprenticeship before and I’m all for anything which can improve Halifax RLFC.

“He’s due to come in tomorrow (Monday) and we’ll start then.”

Current Bradford coach Mick Potter admitted his side must improve if they are going to have any chance of overcoming Wigan and reaching the quarter-finals.

“There was a lot of things I wasn’t happy with,” he said, after conceding six tries with some woeful defending.

“It probably made for good TV but it wasn’t great to watch as a coach.

“The most important thing though was getting the result and into the next round.

“We’ve done that now but we know we need work.”

Meanwhile, centre Chev Walker was having x-rays last night after limping off in the fourth minute with a suspected fracture of his foot.