A SECOND half hat-trick from Stefan Marsh helped the Vikings take the spoils at Bradford Bulls and secured the club's first ever play-off place.

The final score of 32-12 was perhaps a little unkind to the Bulls though had Danny Tickle had a better day with the boot for Widnes it could have been more.

Bradford knocked-on bringing the ball away from their own line on the second tackle of the game.

From the resulting possession Danny Tickle's long pass found Paddy Flynn in space and he crashed in at the right corner.

Just six minutes later and Flynn was in again. This time it was quick hands across the line that created the overlap to allow the powerful winger to cross from 20 metres to make it 8-0.

The Bulls began to get a foothold in Widnes territory and hit back on 10 minutes when second row Tom Olbison hit a short ball and had enough strength to force his way over.

Luke Gale's conversion brought the home side back within two points and after a long spell of further pressure on the Vikings line they hit the front when veteran centre Chev Walker's sheer size proved too much for the defence.

Gale's sweetly struck conversion gave his side a 12-8 lead with 16 minutes of the first half remaining.

The Bulls may feel they should have increased their lead as they continued to enjoy territorial advantage but some desperate last-ditch tackling kept Widnes's line intact so the status quo was maintained until the interval.

The Vikings survived a couple of near-misses early in the second period but got themselves back on level terms when centre Marsh stumbled his way over after a Bradford error near their own line.

Tickle's attempted conversion from wide out hit the near post and bounced out.

Marsh got his second try in the space of three minutes when he pounced on a Lloyd White grubber kick after a fine-handling move but Tickle again managed to find an upright with the goal attempt.

Having established a 16-12 lead, the Vikings continued to press but it took until the 69th minutes to crack the Bradford defence again.

Kevin Brown's astute kick into the in-goal forced a drop-out and slick handling on the next set saw Hanbury send Marsh scampering in for his hat-trick.

Bradford's attempts to get back into the game became increasingly desperate and the home team's error count mounted.

As the Bulls heads visibly dropped, late tries from Patrick Ah Van and White took the scoreline away and Cameron Phelps slotted over a couple of conversions to complete the scoring.

Bradford: Kearney; Henry, Adams, Walker, Williams; Gaskell, Gale; Manuofakoa, O'Brien, Sidlow, Olbison, Pitts, Addy. Subs: Arundel, Blythe, Fakir, Donaldson.

Widnes: Hanbury; Flynn, Marsh, Phelps, Ah Van; Brown, Mellor; Johnson, White, O'Carroll, Galea, Tickle, Cahill. Subs: Carberry, Leuluai, Dean, Joseph.

Referee: R Hicks Attendance: 7,438