Bradford Beat Castleford 32-22 to End Seven-Game Slide

Bradford Bulls ended a seven-match losing run by beating Castleford Tigers 32-22 at Odsal Stadium, strengthening their chance of avoiding last place in the Super League table. BBC Sport reported that the victory also stopped a sequence of five consecutive home defeats for Bradford in the West Yorkshire derby.

Watch the highlights:

Bradford seized control before half-time through tries from Riley Dean, Connor Wynne, Caleb Aekins, Dan Russell and Waqa Blake. Chris Atkin kicked four goals and played a central role in directing the home side, while Louis Senior supplied Castleford's only try of the opening half.

The Bulls were boosted by the return of forwards Ryan Sutton, Russell and Phoenix Steinwede. Dean opened the scoring after being sent through by Joe Mellor, Wynne crossed from an Atkin pass and Aekins won the race to touch down after kicking a loose ball forward. Atkin then helped create the tries for Russell and Blake as Bradford built a decisive advantage.

Castleford improved after the interval. Krystian Mapapalangi scored twice and Alex Mellor also crossed, with Fletcher Weaver converting three of the visitors' tries. However, Ebon Scurr's try 12 minutes into the second half kept Bradford clear and proved sufficient to withstand Castleford's response. Mapapalangi's second score arrived one minute before the final hooter.

BBC Sport said the result moved bottom side Bradford level on points with York Knights, Huddersfield Giants and Hull FC with one match left. Bradford, playing their first season back in Super League, will face second-bottom York next Thursday in their final game as they try to avoid the wooden spoon.

Bradford coach Kurt Haggerty praised his team's defensive resilience in comments to BBC Radio Leeds and said Dean and Atkin benefited from playing consecutive matches together. Castleford interim coach Luke Robinson said his team was short of confidence and struggled to recover after a poor start. Castleford remain without a permanent head coach and have now lost six of their past seven matches.