BULLS IN THE WRINGER
Cummins lays into his Bradford side after they suffer yet more embarrassment
ONLY a fluffed try-scoring opportunity by Catalans in the final seconds spared struggling Bradford the ignominy of conceding half a century of points for their third consecutive Super League game.
Home prop Jeff Lima dropped the ball on the Bradford line in Perpignan’s Stade Gilbert Brutus but it was scant consolation for the Bulls.
They now face two ‘must-win’ games against fellow strugglers Wakefield and Salford and need a positive result from their appeal against a six-points deduction for going into administration to have any hope of avoiding relegation.
Their appeal will be heard by an independent RFL panel on June 4.
Bradford coach Francis Cummins said of his side: ‘They haven’t let me down, they’ve let everyone involved down. We were embarrassing today.
‘Lee Gaskell looked like he was carrying a knock but he wasn’t and he wasn’t alone. When you have a handful of players off the pace, you get embarrassed and that’s what happened. We gave Catalans all that possession with some bad errors.’
Catalans coach Laurent Frayssinous and several players were warned by chairman Bernard Guasch before the game that performances must improve if they wanted to earn new contracts. They responded by making it six straight home wins to leapfrog Hull KR into the play-off places and avenge their Challenge Cup defeat at Bradford a month ago.
Frayssinous said: ‘We laid the platform in the first half and once again Leon Pryce (ex-Bradford star) showed what a quality player he is.’
The Dragons raced into an 18-0 lead after full back Morgan Escare touched down in 40 seconds. Converted tries followed from another ex-Bradford player, Elliott Whitehead, and winger Michael Oldfield.
Catalans started the second half the way they had the first, extending their lead with tries from Escare and Mikael Simon, before Jamie Foster put Bradford on the board.
Daryl Millard, Leon Pryce and Zeb Taia added further tries.