JORDAN BALDWINSON was unable to inspire Bradford Bulls to victory over Halifax Panthers after returning to his former club on a one-week loan from York City Knights.

Baldwinson headed to Bradford on a short-term deal for their trip to the Shay Stadium, with York out of action amid a number of coronavirus cases in the squad of their scheduled opponents, Sheffield Eagles.

In the battle of third and fourth in the Betfred Championship table, Bradford were narrowly beaten 24-21.

Halifax raced to a 14-4 lead but Bradford rallied and found themselves 20-14 in front with a dozen minutes to go.

A converted try by Liam Harris levelled the score, though Bradford thought they had won it through a late George Flanagan drop goal.

But it was not to be as James Saltonstall's last-minute try secured the home side the points and condemned Baldwinson's Bulls to defeat.

The York prop forward, who was last at Bradford on loan from Leeds Rhinos in 2014, had been drafted into John Kear's squad in order to ensure the game went ahead.

Bradford were missing front-rowers Dan Fleming and Ben Evans and were in need of middles.

Knights chairman Jon Flatman explained: “Due to the change in loan regulations, we were very happy to assist a fellow Betfred Championship club in fulfilling a fixture at the weekend.

“We understand that clubs exist to play matches and to entertain.

“This short-term solution to assist a club in getting a team on the field aids the competition as a whole and we want to support that.

“We have the necessary paperwork in place to ensure we are not put at risk by the loan and with the agreement of Jordan, we are proud to support the competition and allow fans of Bulls and Halifax the opportunity to not miss a game.”