Bradford 42-18 Catalans

Bradford’s faint play-off hopes stayed alive after a 42-18 thrashing of Catalans at Odsal.

The Bulls ran in eight tries to record their third consecutive win and while it eases the pressure on coach Steve McNamara, it’s likely to come too late for them to reach the top eight.

Catalans, who remain well in the hunt for a play-off berth, took an 11th minute lead when Sebastien Raguin went over, converted by Gregory Mounis.

But the Bulls hit back almost immediately when Sam Burgess made a break, before linking up with Jamie Langley to score, and it was another Burgess break that resulted in the ball being spread out to Ricki Sheriffe to score in the right hand corner.

And the home side turned the screw before the interval, with Chris Nero jumping highest to claim a pinpoint Paul Deacon kick and Steve Menzies going over from close range to give the Bulls a comfortable 20-6 half time advantage.

A five minute blitz sealed the two points for the home side after the break, with converted tries from Wayne Godwin, Paul Sykes and Deacon putting the game beyond doubt.

Catalans grabbed two consolation scores in the final quarter – through Cyril Gossard and Sebastien Martins – with a Glenn Morrison touchdown for the home side sandwiched in between.

The win means Bradford are three points off a top eight spot with two games to play, while Catalans maintain their two point advantage over Warrington and Harlequins.