Talismanic captain Paul Sculthorpe made his eagerly-awaited comeback as St Helens produced a stunning display to gain their first win at Odsal for three years.

The former Great Britain skipper started on the bench after almost nine months out with an Achilles injury and made his entry midway through the first half, by which time his side had already established a stranglehold on the game.

Saints led 16-0 after a flawless first half-hour but had to withstand a tremendous fightback by the Bulls before veteran hooker Keiron Cunningham clinched the victory with a trademark try from dummy half 11 minutes from the end.

Sculthorpe's return for the visitors provided them with much-needed relief, with four other first-choice forwards ruled out with injury, although they also lost prop Nick Fozzard with a knee injury after only three minutes.

Centre Willie Talau was also back for his first game of the season as Saints, going in search of their first win at Odsal since their record 66-4 win over Bradford in 2005, made a dream start with two tries in the first 10 minutes.

Front rower James Graham took advantage of a darting run from dummy half by full-back Paul Wellens to plunge over after five minutes and then winger Ade Gardner went over after taking a suspiciously forward pass from Matt Gidley.

Bradford thought they had breached the Saints defence when Shontayne Hape, playing out of position on the left wing, scythed through but was recalled for obstruction.

The Saints defence looked strong, in contrast to that of the Bulls, who opened up invitingly for former Bradford second rower Lee Gilmour to coast over from a pass by another old boy Leon Pryce.

Sculthorpe typified Saints' superb scrambling defence when he smothered Bradford substitute Simon Finnigan as he made a run for the line, losing the ball in the tackle.

The visitors' injury jinx struck again when teenage prop Gareth Frodsham went off just four minutes after entering the action from the bench and their defence finally cracked five minutes before half-time.

Quick handling along the line created an overlap, with centre Paul Sykes taking full-back Michael Platt's pass to send in winger James Evans at the corner.

Bradford's try changed the complexion of the match as the home side dominated the early exchanges of the second half.

They doubled their score within two minutes of the restart when stand-off Iestyn Harris changed the direction of play and Platt, who was a constant danger in attack, got Sykes racing through a gap.

Paul Deacon kicked his first goal to make it 16-10 and the Bulls continued to put the St Helens defence under pressure as the game entered the final quarter.

Saints substitute James Roby was held up over the line, unable to ground the ball, but they pulled two scores clear on 65 minutes with a Long penalty goal awarded for a persistent offside by Platt.

The Bradford full-back failed to retreat the required 10 metres as he went to tackle Gidley and was sent to the sin bin for the professional foul.

And St Helens made the extra man count with Cunningham bulldozing his way past a trio of defenders for his side's third try to put the seal on a splendid win.

Bradford had the final say when Sykes took Harris' precision pass to grab his second try, which Deacon converted, but there was not enough time left for them to press for an equaliser.

Bradford's try changed the complexion of the match as the home side dominated the early exchanges of the second half.

They doubled their score within two minutes of the restart when stand-off Iestyn Harris changed the direction of play and Platt, who was a constant danger on attack, got Sykes racing through a gap.

Paul Deacon kicked his first goal to make it 16-10 and the Bulls continued to put the St Helens defence under pressure as the game entered the final quarter.