London Broncos 36, Bradford Bulls 46

“DON’T worry, about Super League, ‘cos the Championship is gonna be alright.”

Bulls fans adapted the lyrics of the Bob Marley classic ‘Three Little Birds’ when the relegation trapdoor came into focus a few months ago.

The song got several airings on Saturday and at times it felt like the darkest of gallows humour.

Nevertheless, it summed up the defiance among supporters as they prepare for trips to Workington, Whitehaven, Dewsbury and Doncaster.

With the squad that has been assembled, it promises to be quite some journey.

A final-day trek to London Broncos, an amazing game as it turned out, was about saying farewell to a competition to which Bradford have given so much.

Such as a team that marched to five consecutive Grand Finals, won three of them and then followed each success up with a World Club Challenge victory.

There was Bullmania and a club that came to epitomise everything that was good about Super League following the switch to summer rugby in 1996.

Just after the departing Luke Gale and Manase Manuokafoa scored late tries to seal victory, raw emotion dripped from Jimmy Lowes, his players and an impressive travelling contingent.

Boots and playing kit was thrown to fans as the realisation set in: Bradford Bulls had officially parted company with the top flight.

That scenario would have been unthinkable less than a decade ago but the challenge now is to top the Championship next year and return to Super League.

It will take some doing, given the disparity between the spending power of clubs in the first and second tier of the game.

It could be argued that Bradford will have a stronger squad next season but while they have made a raft of new signings, they are also losing some quality players.

After seeing off a spirited London side who, along with Leigh will be their main rivals for top spot in the Championship next season, Lowes picked out James Donaldson and Manuokafoa for special praise.

Donaldson, typically, ran his blood to water and Manuokafoa was also prominent during the second half, capping a late comeback with his first try since July 2012.

The manner in which the big Tongan was mobbed by his team-mates said much for the spirit in the squad.

Donaldson and Manuokafoa are headed for Hull KR and Widnes respectively.

Luke Gale? He stole the show with a four-try haul against his former club and was hugely instrumental in orchestrating Bradford’s fightback.

Brett Kearney also underlined his ability to unlock opposition defences and both he and Gale will now depart too.

In fact, of the 17 on duty at The Hive, nine will now leave: Donaldson, Manuokafoa, Gale, Kearney, Jamie Foster, Joe Arundel, Jordan Baldwinson, Brad Adams and debutant Emmerson Whittel.

At least they bowed out in the right way.

Backed by a colourful following which made up roughly half the 1,402 crowd, the Bulls flirted with a humiliating defeat.

The mood among fans was light-hearted throughout, with self-depreciating chants of ‘Stand up if you’re going down’.

When the Broncos ran out shortly before kick-off, the visiting supporters sang ‘You’re going down with the Bradford’.

London looked set for a real hiding when Gale’s neat footwork took him over the line and then Adam Henry and Kearney combined superbly to give him a second.

But after Arundel touched down in the left corner direct from a scrum in the 12th minute, the Bulls switched off.

London, who have improved since Joey Grima took over earlier this season and are assembling an impressive squad for 2015, responded in kind.

Former Bulls back-rower Matt Cook was pivotal as Scott Moore sent him clear before an over-ambitious pass from Gale was intercepted by Ben Farrar and Joe Keyes scampered clear for London’s second.

Captain Cook, who enjoyed a fine game for the hosts as he prepares to head to Castleford, then produced a fine offload out of a tackle to send Josh Drinkwater over from close range.

Self-belief flooded through the Broncos and it was now them making all the metres and asking all the questions.

They grabbed a fourth try before half-time when Erjon Dollapi was simply too strong for the Bulls, outmuscling a pack of Bradford defenders to cross the line.

Drinkwater’s fourth conversion made it 24-16 to London at the break and it could have been worse had Oscar Thomas not had a try ruled out for a knock-on.

Yet the Broncos grabbed a fifth touchdown in the 53rd minute when Nick Slyney went over from Drinkwater’s short pass, leaving the Bulls 30-16 down.

But moments later, Lowes’ men conjured a fine break inside the left channel which culminated in Kearney touching down a kick from Foster.

Moments later, Manuokafoa was felled by a high challenge from Moore, prompting Jay Pitts to remonstrate with Moore before a free-for-all ensued.

The incident was placed on report and the Bulls were awarded the penalty by rookie referee Joe Cobb.

They soon began to motor and struck again in the 64th minute when a delightful pass from Gale saw him send Pitts over the line.

Four minutes later, Tom Olbison embarked on a lung-bursting run and showed intelligence to send the supporting Gale over for his hat-trick score.

Foster’s conversion made it 34-30 with 12 minutes to go but there was still drama to come as Drinkwater squeezed over the line.

He converted to put London 36-34 ahead but Bradford were not finished.

More inventive play created the space for Gale to claim his fourth of the game before Adam O’Brien’s excellent surging run sent Manuokafoa over, thus sparing the big Tongan the naked run. Seconds later, the final hooter sounded. The game was over and so with it Bradford’s time in Super League.

Head coach Lowes, who lost Chev Walker (head) and Alex Mellor (shoulder) to injury during the game, said: “I jumped for joy at the end because it was nice for the boys to win.

“If they are staying or going, they can now do so with a little bit of a smile on their faces.

“Since I’ve been at the club, the players have worked extremely hard in training and showed great spirit. Things haven’t always gone to plan, and even today we lost our way a bit, but you could see our spirit during that second half.”

It is upon such spirit and desire from their head coach that Bradford’s bid to make an immediate Super League return will be built next season.

London v Bulls Picture Gallery