Betfred Super League

Bradford (26) 32

Tries: Dean, Wynne, Aekins, Russell, Blake, Scurr Goals: Atkin 4

Castleford (4) 22

Tries: Senior, Mpapalangi 2, A Mellor Goals: Weaver 3

Bradford Bulls ended their run of seven straight defeats and deepened the gloom surrounding Castleford Tigers at Odsal Stadium.

The return of three experienced forwards gave Bradford a major boost as they dominated from the start against Castleford, who are without a head coach and have now lost six of their past seven games since beating league leaders Leeds Rhinos in July.

Bradford took control by half-time with tries from Riley Dean, Connor Wynne, Caleb Aekins, Dan Russell and Waqa Blake as scrum-half Chris Atkin ran the show, while Louis Senior’s try was Castleford’s only score of the first half.

They improved in the second half with two tries from Krystian Mapapalangi and one from Alex Mellor, but Ebon Scurr’s try 12 minutes after the interval was enough to keep Castleford at arm’s length and move Bradford level on points with York Knights, Huddersfield Giants and Hull FC with one game to play.

Bradford are intent on avoiding the wooden spoon in their first season back in Super League and they have given themselves a chance, especially as they face second-bottom York Knights in the final game next Thursday.

They were still a player short of naming a 21-man squad but the return of Ryan Sutton, Dan Russell and Phoenix Steinwede added punch to the pack, while Atkin was out to prove a point against his former club.

Joe Mellor sent Dean over for an early opener and Castleford were in defensive disarray as Wynne benefited from Atkin’s floated pass before Aekins hacked a loose ball forward and won the race to touch it down under the posts.

Mapapalangi was a bright spot for Castleford and he sent Senior over for a try, but the ubiquitous Atkin set up both Russell and Blake for tries to end the contest by half-time.

Castleford managed to get on the front foot after the break and Mapapalangi, now over his shoulder injury, introduced an element of doubt with an early try.

Scurr was central to Bradford’s forward dominance and he was rewarded with his first Super League try before Castleford’s Alex Mellor forced his way over at the other end. Mapapalangi scored his second a minute before the final hooter to add some respectability to the scoreline.

Bradford coach Kurt Haggerty told BBC Radio Leeds:

“I’m really pleased with how we defended. We conceded a couple of tries off kicks which in this weather is probably the only way you are going to break teams down, but we showed resilience defensively and still managed to score some pretty special tries.

“We thought we should have got the game won over in Toulouse, so we carried the momentum over and kept our week really positive leading into this game.

“Riley [Dean] and Chris Atkin have played some games back-to-back together now and it showed. Riley was really good tonight and Chris got us round the field, a lot came through those two, but you have to give credit to our back field who carried the ball really strongly.”

Castleford interim coach Luke Robinson told BBC Radio Leeds:

“We’re a side that’s severely lacking confidence. If we don’t start well, then all of a sudden everything seems to fall apart and we don’t seem to be able to have the resilience to stay in it.

“We made 30 tackles more than them before the 20-minute mark, so all you are doing is depleting yourself of energy and giving the other side a leg-up.

“The analysts told me after the game that we average 34 points a game conceded, which is a crazy stat that shows where we need to be at. The best sides are the ones that defend, and we’ve got to find that.”

Bradford: Aekins; Okunbor, Russell, Blake, Wynne; Dean, Atkin; Sutton, Ackers, Scurr, Gardiner, Steinwede, J. Mellor.

Interchanges: Gill, Peposho, Ruan, Hooley.

Castleford: Laulu-Togagae; Ravalawa, A. Mellor, Mapapalangi, Senior; Asi, Weaver; Dupree, Hood, Lawler, Lane, Greacen, Stimson.

Interchanges: Hall, Brown, Vaalepu, McNamara.

Referee: Matty Lynn.