St Helens Recover To Beat Spirited Bradford
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St Helens (4) 26
Tries: Wright, Sironen, Sailor, Feldt, Cross Goals: Hastings
Bradford (10) 22
Tries: Ryan, Wynne 2, Ackers Goals: Hooley
St Helens recovered from an early second-half deficit to tape a hard-fought Super League victory over Bradford Bulls.
The hosts found themselves 12 points behind simply after the break, however eventually secured the points thanks to a Deon Cross attempt in the last 5 minutes.
Earlier scores from Shane Wright, Curtis Sironen, Tristan Sailor and Kyle Feldt assisted see off the Bulls, who played the bulk of the second half with 12 males after Eliot Peposhi's termination.
A 3rd straight win moves Saints level on points with second-place Warrington, while Bradford stay 5th having actually won 2 and lost 2 of their very first 4 video games back in the leading tier.
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This was the first Super League meeting in 12 years for the 2 sides, who objected to the competition's Grand Final in 1999 and 2002, and proved to be a gripping struggle.
Wright's 3rd shot of the season put Saints in front early but the visitors responded remarkably to lead by the break.
A best grubber kick from Luke Hooley set up Ethan Ryan to level the ratings up, and Hooley then kicked his side in front after David Klemmer was sent out to the sin bin in his 300th profession appearance.
The Bulls made the extra guy count, and repeated through Connor Wynne to extend the lead to 6.
At the other end, Esan Marsters produced an outstanding last-ditch tackle to stop the hosts levelling things up.
A fantastic breakaway rating from Wynne gave the Bulls a 12-point lead shortly after the restart, before the St Helens fightback began.
Tries in fast succession from Sironen and Sailor - the previous verified following a review - brought the hosts back level and when Peposhi was sent minutes later it looked as though there would just be one winner.
Feldt's rating 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 enter front when more through Andy Ackers.
The Bradford strong for nearly 10 minutes, including requiring the ball out of have fun with St Helens looking particular to score in the corner thanks to the work of 5 protectors.
Cross, however, slipped through in the closing phases 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 little character in the team, so that's excellent to see. We all believe that's a non-negotiable, but it's not always evident in all teams, so that box is ticked.
"I think we have found a way to win in terms of we have actually got a scattering of how I 'd like us to play.
"It's getting significantly challenging with all the pieces in all the locations that we have actually got, but we are scoring some shots 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 are in Challenge Cup action next week.
St Helens go to Castleford on Saturday, 14 March (18:00 GMT), while Bradford travel to Super League table-toppers Wigan Warriors on Friday, 13 March (20:00)