Paul Deacon's late drop-goal rescued a point for Bradford to deny relegation-threatened Widnes a precious engage Super League victory at Odsal.

An astonishing contest saw the Bulls recover from a 13-0 interval deficit to claim the lead in the closing stages, only for Widnes to steal 25-24 ahead when a stunning offload from Sala Fa'alogo found Andrew Emelio in the right-hand corner.

However, Deacon's late drop-goal ensured the honours were shared and prevented the Bulls from crashing to a third straight home defeat.

Having shrugged off the humiliation of their 66-4 home defeat to St Helens with a hard-fought 38-20 victory at Huddersfield last week, Noble could have been forgiven for thinking his inconsistent side were back on track.

But Widnes were ultimately unlucky not to come away with the points after pushing Bradford all the way during an absorbing and often controversial encounter in which referee Steve Ganson drew heavy criticism from the home fans.

The Bulls began the stronger and Karl Pryce almost bulldozed his through for a spectacular solo effort after intercepting a Widnes pass on his own try-line.

It took a clutch of Vikings players to stop the giant wing, and only some determined scrambling defence kept Widnes on level terms during the early exchanges.

But after weathering the early storm, the visitors grabbed the lead courtesy of a classic counter-attacking move.

Vikings captain Shane Millard made a terrific burst from midfield before finding the onrushing Gary Hulse in support 30 metres out.

The full-back collected Millard's perfect offload and raced clear of the Bradford defence to ground between the posts.

Jules O'Neill converted the try to hand his side a 6-0 advantage and after Bulls forward Rob Parker spilled Karl Pratt's pass with the try-line at his mercy, Widnes began to grow in confidence.

Paul Deacon's excellent kicking game began to come to the fore for Bradford, but too often passes were undercooked or over-hit.

Widnes duly took advantage shortly before the half-hour mark, albeit in controversial circumstances.

Vikings centre Gary Connolly stole the ball in the tackle from Ben Harris and raced clear from 70 metres to extend the visitors' lead, but Bradford were left complaining that Harris had been the victim of a two-man tackle by Connolly and Gray Viane.

O'Neill again goaled successfully and when Jamie Langley had a close-range try disallowed for a knock-on by Pryce, Widnes began to sense it was their day.

O'Neill's drop-goal handed the Vikings a lucky 13-0 interval advantage which they wasted time in adding to shortly after the restart.

The Bulls were again caught napping when Widnes replacement David Mills found Australian stand-off Owen Craigie, playing at stand-off in place of the dropped Stephen Myler, crossed the line from close range.

O'Neill added the simple conversion from just wide of the posts before the Bulls, predictably, upped the tempo and after 55 minutes, Deacon darted through a gap for a try which he converted to drag his side back into the game. O'Neill soon increased his side's lead with a penalty before Bradford hit back again, replacement Robbie Paul crossing the line with little more than 10 minutes remaining to hand his side hope.

Lee Radford then touched down for Bradford before Paul claimed his second, Deacon converting both efforts.

Emelio's late try looked to have clinched it for Bradford before Deacon's late drop-goal ensured the honours were shared.