Bulls fall just short after giving Widnes a late fright

‘We were masters of our own downfall,’ said Paul Anderson (Getty)

Stand-off Kevin Brown crossed for a first-half double as Widnes strengthened their hold on fourth place in Super League with a 22-18 win over plucky Bradford yesterday.

Brown’s two tries and another from Jack Owens gave the Vikings a 16-6 half-time lead. They did not have it their own way after the break, however, as Bradford defied their off-field problems to produce a spirited comeback.

Elliot Kear and Brett Kearney added converted tries to boost the Bulls, but Patrick Ah Van’s try proved the difference as Widnes maintained their impressive start to the season. Bulls stay bottom of the table.

Bradford may have left Halton with nothing to show for their efforts, but at least have some hope for the future after Marc Green secured ownership of the club last week. Green, who was watching the game at Widnes, will have been pleased with the desire shown by his side.

Warrington came from 14-4 down at half-time to ease to a 10th consecutive win over Huddersfield, who are still looking for their first home win of the season. The Giants collapsed in the second half to lose 33-14.

“We were masters of our own downfall,” said the Huddersfield coach, Paul Anderson. “We’ve got a fair amount of people who are not where we want them to be at the moment.

“We’ve got to keep working hard and things will turn. I’m confident of that because we’ve got a real good group of players.”

Hull KR recorded back-to-back Super League wins for the first time since July with a 44-6 home success over Wakefield.