Defending Super League champions Bradford overcame the early loss of Andy Lynch and held off a spirited fightback from Warrington to keep alive their hopes of a sixth successive Grand Final.

New Zealand winger Lesley Vainikolo clinched victory in an epic semi-final at Odsal with a glorious 90-metre solo try which finally killed off the brave Wolves, who had earlier battled back from 18-0 down to take a 22-20 lead.

Bradford hit back with three tries in the last 13 minutes to gain a deserved, if flattering victory and secure a trip to Hull in next Friday's final eliminator, with St Helens awaiting the winners at Old Trafford on October 14.

Lynch, the Bulls' player of the year, went off just three minutes into the tie and was taken to hospital with a suspected broken ankle.

Bradford recovered well from the loss of their outstanding prop, who was this week named in the standby squad for Great Britain's Tri-Nations campaign.

Full-back Michael Withers, thought to have played his last match at Odsal before a rumoured move to Wigan next season, grabbed a hat-trick of tries but it was Paul Deacon who emerged the hero.

Deacon, ignored by Brian Noble when naming his Great Britain squad this week, produced a second successive man-of-the-match display to remind his former coach of his star quality.

He shaded his half-back duel with Warrington skipper Lee Briers and finished with a personal haul of 24 points from two tries and eight goals from eight attempts.

The Bulls went into the game without injured back row forwards Jamie Langley and Paul Johnson, who was denied the chance to make his farewell home appearance before joining Warrington next season.

And they suffered another cruel body blow when Lynch crumpled under the weight of a three-man tackle and, after a three-minute stoppage for treatment, was carried off on a stretcher.

Undaunted, the champions scored with virtually their first attack, running the ball on the last tackle with Terry Newton, Paul Deacon, Brett Ferres and Shontayne Hape keeping the ball alive for the supporting Withers to touch down.

Four minutes later, after Warrington surrendered possession thanks to a forward pass, Withers pounced for a second try, this time from Brad Meyers' pass close to the line.

Deacon added both conversions, the first of which registered the 2,000th point of his career, to make it 12-0 and it got even better for the Bulls when the scrum-half added a third try on 16 minutes.

Giant centre Karl Pryce, introduced following the loss of Lynch, tore through the flimsy Wolves defence to give Deacon an unopposed run to the line and he maintained his accuracy with the boot to make it 18-0.

Warrington were in danger of going the way of Salford, who were hammered 52-6 at Odsal a week earlier, but, boosted by the support of 5,000 travelling fans and the vivid memory of last week's thrilling 18-17 win at Leeds, they roared back.

Briers, hero of their fabulous win at Headingley, began the fightback on 22 minutes when he took Mark Gleeson's pass from dummy half and squeezed under the challenge of Hape to touch down.

He added the conversion and then put in a lofted kick to the corner for winger Henry Fa'afili to touch down.

Briers had the misfortune to strike the outside of the left-hand upright with his kick and Deacon was on the mark in injury time with a 45-metre penalty to stretch his side's lead to 10 points.

Former Bradford full-back Stuart Reardon then turned the game on its head in a purple patch at the start of the second half.

His midfield break, which left a trio of Bulls defenders grasping at thin air, set up the position for another Bradford man, Toa Kohe-Love, to touch down at the corner.

And two minutes later he was on hand to finish off a wonderful move started by Kohe-Love and continued by Richie Barnett and Mike Wainwright.

Reardon's try levelled the scores and Briers' third goal edged the visitors in front for the first time.

Deacon and Briers exchanged penalties before the Bradford number seven had the last laugh, jinking through the Wolves defence for his second try 13 minutes from the end.

Vainikolo then put the seal on a fantastic finish, picking up a loose ball and sprinting almost the full length of the field and Withers completed his hat-trick just before the end.