Bulls brushed aside by the craft of Dunemann

Leeds maintained their unbeaten start to the Super League season as they lifted their game to a level which Bradford could not match in the second half in front of a big derby crowd at Odsal last night.

The Rhinos stuttered in the first half, but a burst of 30 unanswered points after the break showed that it is going to be a special side that takes their title. "We probably didn't expect that sort of scoreline," said the Leeds coach, Tony Smith. "It was a close contest for a lot of the match, so I'm delighted that we were so strong at the back end of each half."

Brian Noble made few excuses for his Bradford team, but felt that two penalties awarded against them as part of the game's clampdown on dissent were draconian. "We'll be burning books next," he said.

Bradford took an early lead when they put pressure on Leeds inside their own 20 and the promising Karl Pryce touched down after intercepting from Chris McKenna when he tried to play a blind pass. Paul Deacon added the goal, and the Bulls, beaten by Leeds in last year's Grand Final, looked sharper. They would have been further ahead if Brad Meyers had not been held up over the line by Ali Lauitiiti and Richard Mathers.

Leeds struck back when Andrew Dunemann, such a stalwart for them during Matt Diskin's absence, was allowed to run so far across field that he seemed to be heading for the grandstand. But eventually he found a gap through which to send Chev Walker for the try which, with Kevin Sinfield's goal, levelled the scores.

The intensity of the defences were forcing handling errors and Leeds almost took the lead when Mark Calderwood's touchdown from Dunemann's clever kick was disallowed for a knock-on. They were in front by half-time, though, when Lauitiiti's kick forced a drop-out and crisp handling from Danny Ward and Mathers sent Gareth Ellis over.

Bradford responded early in the second half when Stewart Reardon took Jamie Langley's pass and twisted to force down despite a three-man tackle. Deacon missed the kick, but Sinfield put the restart dead and, after Mathers had gone high on Lee Radford, Deacon levelled it up.

Leeds regained their lead with the classiest move of the game, exploiting the narrow side for Marcus Bai to break clear and supply Keith Senior with a return pass on the inside. Two minutes later, Dunemann again sparked the attack from dummy-half and Liam Botham gave the final pass for Rob Burrow. Ellis' break then set up Sinfield, before the pace of Burrow created a drive for Calderwood and one for himself.

It was a wonderful second-half display and left the rest of Super League with much to ponder.

Bradford: L Pryce; Reardon, Langley, K Pryce, Vainikolo; Harris, Deacon; Vagana, Baul, Fielden, Peacock, Meyers, Radford. Substitutes used: Lynch, Pratt, Ferres, Parker.

Leeds: Mathers; Calderwood, Walker, Senior, Bai; Sinfield, Burrow; Bailey, Dunemann, Ward, Lauitiiti, McKenna, Ellis. Substitutes used: McDermott, Poching, Botham, Scruton.

Referee: K Kirkpatrick (Warrington).