Whitehaven conceded heavily in the second-half to lose 36-18 to Bradford Bulls at the Orcus REC.
They had led 12-6 at half-time after a good display in which they were denied a third try by an admitted mistake afterwards by the referee.
But in the second-half it was a different ball game as Bradford dominated possession and in the first 15 minutes scored three tries to take control. It took until after the 20 minute mark for Whitehaven to make any real incursion to the Bradford half.
It all boiled down to the second-half when Bradford came out a different side to up the tempo, enthusiasm and physicality which Whitehaven were unable to match.
Haven had gone in front after 11 minutes when Jake Maizen, their top try scorer, went in after a great move from deep. Jake Carter converted but Maizen was to depart later in the half with a hamstring injury which might keep him out for a while.
The home side doubled their lead on 25 minutes when a kick through struck the head of a Bradford defender to rebound into the arms of Connor Holliday, a gift he gratefully received to go over and Carter converted.
On 31 minutes Bradford reduced the deficit when Mitch Souter darted in from dummy half and Jordan Lilley added the extras.
It had been a good first-half from Whitehaven, losing Maizen was a blow but the heavy reversal in the second-half was extremely disappointing as Bradford certainly produced a different approach.
Their recovery started on 49 minutes when a chip from Lee Gaskell was tapped back to him by Lilley and he touched down with Lilley goaled to level the scores.
Three minutes later the Bulls were in again when a lovely short ball from Kieran Gill slipped in Jorge Taufua and he made no mistake. Lilley again converted. Gill had been hit late and as a result Edene Gebbie was sin-binned.
After 27 minutes a lovely chip from Gaskell was followed and touched down by Gill and Lilley’s conversion suddenly made it 24-12.
Bradford went down to 12 when Fenton Rogers was sin-binned after 63 minutes for a high shot but it didn’t stop them scoring again. This time Tom Holmes put Jayden Myers into a gap and he completed the task with the try which Lilley converted.
It looked to be beyond Whitehaven’s reach but on 70 minutes they did reduce the arrears when Rio Corkill picked-up a loose ball and went over. Carter converted.
Four minutes from time Lilley landed a penalty and in the final minute Taufua swept over for his second but Lilley suffered his first kicking failure of the game.
