St Helens Recover To Beat Spirited Bradford

192 Comments


St Helens (4) 26


Tries: Wright, Sironen, Sailor, Feldt, Cross Goals: Hastings


Bradford (10) 22


Tries: Ryan, Wynne 2, Ackers Goals: Hooley


St Helens recuperated from an early second-half deficit to record a hard-fought Super League victory over Bradford Bulls.


The hosts discovered themselves 12 points behind just after the break, however eventually secured the points thanks to a Deon Cross attempt in the last five minutes.


Earlier ratings from Shane Wright, Curtis Sironen, Tristan Sailor and Kyle Feldt assisted see off the Bulls, who played the majority of the second half with 12 guys after Eliot Peposhi's termination.


A third straight win moves Saints level on points with second-place Warrington, while Bradford stay fifth having won two and lost 2 of their first 4 video games back in the tier.


Wigan overpower Toulouse to keep 100% start


This was the first Super League meeting in 12 years for the 2 sides, who contested the competition's Grand Final in 1999 and 2002, and showed to be a gripping struggle.


Wright's 3rd shot of the season put Saints in front early on however the visitors reacted brilliantly to lead by the break.


A perfect grubber kick from Luke Hooley established Ethan Ryan to level ball games up, and Hooley then kicked his side in front after David Klemmer was sent out to the sin bin in his 300th profession look.


The Bulls made the extra guy count, and repeated through Connor Wynne to stretch the result in 6.


At the other end, Esan Marsters produced an outstanding desperate tackle to stop the hosts levelling things up.


A fantastic breakaway rating from Wynne provided the Bulls a 12-point lead soon after the restart, before the St Helens fightback began.


Tries in fast succession from Sironen and Sailor - the former validated following a review - brought the hosts back level and when Peposhi was dispatched minutes later on it looked as though there would just be one winner.


Feldt's score certainly suggested it would be one-way traffic, only for the Bulls to take benefit of a Saints sin-binning - this time for Joe Shorrock - and go in front as soon as more through Andy Ackers.


The Bradford backline stood strong for almost 10 minutes, consisting of requiring the ball out of play with St Helens looking specific to score in the corner thanks to the work of 5 defenders.


Cross, nevertheless, slipped through in the closing stages to secure the win, and extend the Bulls' wait on an away success at Saints to 17 years.


St Helens head coach Paul Rowley:


"I believe we've got a bit of character in the group, so that's good to see. All of us think that's a non-negotiable, however it's not constantly evident in all groups, so that box is ticked.


"I think we have discovered a method to win in terms of we have actually got a sprinkling of how I 'd like us to play.


"It's getting significantly difficult with all the pieces in all the places that we've got, however we are scoring some tries and digging deep."


St Helens: Sailor; Feldt, MacDonald, Cross, Murphy; Whitby, Hastings; Delaney, Clark, Klemmer; Sironen, Wright, Shorrocks


Interchanges: Host, Robertson, Whitley, Stephens


Bradford: Aekins; Wynne, Marsters, Blake, Ryan; Hooley, Milnes; Chamberlain, Mellor, Fulton; Sutton, Ackers, Lewis


Interchanges: Doro, Douglas, Hallas, Peposhi


What's Next?


Both of these teams remain in Challenge Cup action next week.


St Helens visit Castleford on Saturday, 14 March (18:00 GMT), while Bradford travel to Super League table-toppers Wigan Warriors on Friday, 13 March (20:00)