Bulls put a tick in the box.....

[jed]

..... of St Helens.

I know this is being a bad winner, but it's directed at a few overly cocky fans.


Sounded like a brilliant game, can't wait to see it next weekend on Fox. A similarly exciting game at the Willows too, a shame we won't get to see that one too

 

[WJ]

You b*tchslapped saints.

Everything they normally get away with such as high shots and not standing square was penalised everytime and their fans don't like it.

I remember a saints fan a few weeks ago saying anything could happen in a one off game but saints ha dtop spot nailed.

Well they don't even have that now as leeds are only 2 points behind, and still have them to play at headingley.

 

[ozbash]

that ref should be shot.
buggered up what should have been a great game.

 

[Dr Crane]

Score?

 

[WJ]

that ref should be shot.
buggered up what should have been a great game.

.....And if he let all the offences go there would be people asking for him to eb shot for missing them all.

It's up to the players to cut out the penalties not the ref.:roll:

 

[Fairleigh Good!]

It was an awful game. The penalty count was something like 19-6 in Bradford's favour. Sure Saints got frustrated at times but there were some farcical sequences of penalties which went Bradford's way. It was one of those games where Saints annoyed the ref to the extent that he was penalising anything other than precision alignment in the markers and defensive line. Pedantry taken to the extreme. To quote Sculthorpe, "I'm not questioning you Sir, I'm just asking what we've done wrong?".

Bradford thought it was Christmas and tucked into the feast.

Two struggling teams struggling for 80 minutes sums it up. Bradford will be delighted they have won, but there was precious little quality on show from either side.

Saints still have the personnel to waltz away with the double. But at the moment they are not playing at anything like their best. Abstract failure sums up the awfulness of the second half showing tonight. Bradford weren't much better.

 

[ozbash]

Score?

www.superleague.co.uk

St Helens’ lead at the top of the engage Super League is down to just two points after they went down 20-18 to Bradford, their second narrow defeat in eight days.

Bradford scrum-half Paul Deacon, ignored by Great Britain earlier this week, scored a try in each half as the reigning champions found their form as last to give new coach Steve McNamara only his third win in eight matches.
The outcome was cruel on Saints full-back Paul Wellens, a deserved man of the match, but the visitors were made to pay for an indisciplined performance uncharacteristically marked by a series of handling errors.
Still reeling from their 27-26 home defeat by Hull, full-strength Saints made the perfect start, with winger Ade Gardner scoring his 14th try of the season after only three minutes.

Slick handling and passing by former Bradford second rower Lee Gilmour and Australian centre Jamie Lyon gave Gardner the opening and he easily stepped inside Marcus St Hilaire to finish decisively.

Lyon added the touchline goal to put his side 6-0 ahead but Bradford, hammered 66-4 in this fixture last June, were in no mood to roll over this time.

They thought they had scored an equalising try when scrum-half Deacon jinked his way over only for the video referee to disallow the try for an obstruction by Terry Newton on defender Jason Cayless.

However, Newton made amends with a determined burst that took him to within a couple of feet of the line and Deacon was on hand to take a suspiciously forward pass and cross for a try.

Deacon improved his try and made it 8-6 with a penalty on 17 minutes after prop Stuart Fielden had been held down in the tackle.

The Bulls would have been further ahead but for a magnificent try-saving tackle by Wellens on Lesley Vainikolo in full flight for the line.

And Wellens further underlined his immense value to the leaders when he took a slipped pass from substitute prop Nick Fozzard to score Saints’ second try on 27 minutes.

St Helens winger Francis Meli was denied a try on 30 minutes because of an obstruction on Bradford skipper Iestyn Harris but they extended their lead on 32 minutes when Gilmour supported a clean break by 20-year-old front rower James Graham.

Lyon kicked his third goal and Saints would have been further ahead had Gilmour not dropped Gardner’s pass with the line at his mercy.

But Saints made it hard for themselves by conceding a string of penalties for foul play and Bradford pulled a try back just before half-time to keep them well in contention, with neat handling along the line creating the space for Vainikolo to power his way over at the corner.

The clever kicking game of Long kept Bradford on the back foot in the early part of the second half but the Bulls defence was back to its best and they scrambled superbly to haul down Willie Talau after Jon Wilkin made a break.
And, whenever the home side threatened, Wellens was there to provide an effective last line of defence.

The deadlock was eventually broken on 56 minutes when Newton shot away from acting half and Deacon timed his run perfectly to take his pass and score his second try.

The scrum-half also added the goal to tie the scores at 18-18 and then restored his side’s lead with an angled penalty, shortly after missing from an easier position.

Bradford (12) 20.
Tries: Deacon 2, Vainikolo. Goals: Deacon 4.
St Helens (18) 18.
Tries: Gardner, Wellens, Gilmour. Goals: Lyon 3.
Bradford: Withers, Vainikolo, Hape, B. Harris, St Hilaire, I. Harris, Deacon, Fielden, Newton, Lynch, Meyers, McKenna, Langley.
Replacements: Vagana, Gene, Ferres, Henderson.
St Helens: Wellens, Gardner, Lyon, Talau, Meli, Pryce, Long, P. Anderson, Cunningham, Cayless, Gilmour, Sculthorpe, Hooper.
Replacements: Roby, Fozzard, Graham, Wilkin.
Att: 12,450
Referee: R Silverwood (Dewsbury)

 

[douglasallen91]

leeds have a horror draw coming up 2 games against st helens, 1 against warrington, hull and bradford.

 

[Dr Crane]

At least Leeds managed to win today.

 

[Stan's Number 1 Fan!!!]

I thought it was a good old fashion arm wrestle last night. I thought the Bulls were the better team. It is about time the referee clamped down on St Helens. They get away with murder around the play the ball area. It's quite refreshing to see them get penalised for it!

The game was won in the forwards and Bradford's looked more up for it on the night. Our starting front row is as good as anywhere in the game and the proved their worth last night. Newton had his best game for the club. Can't believe Lynch is not included in the one-off test but having said that I’d prefer no Bulls players to be in the squad.

As a Bulls fan I honestly turned up last night just hoping the Bulls put in a good performance and tried from the first to the last minute. I wasn’t expecting the 2 points and it was massive bonus. Great credit to McNamara and the players for sticking to the game plan and tackling so well.

There’s no doubt the Bulls have been ‘a bit off’ recently and to win last night was just what we needed.

Possibly another run to Old Trafford………………..

 

[SFW]

Thought the ref was a bit picky at times but in no way did he rob Saints of the game because we simply didn't deserve the win.

No cohesion with ball in hand and there is a very lax attitude in our defence these last two games which needs to be wiped out if we are to stay top of the tree. Two superb individual performances from Terry Newton and especially Paul Wellens were the only highlights of what was a poor game by two poor sides.

 

[natbradfordbulls1985]

The ref was a bit picky with the things he gave,slowed the game down with the penalty count high. Dispite the penalty count the match was a good game , both we up for it but Bradford we better in the end. There defence was brillient not letting st helens score a point in the second half .I went last night the fans as well as the players were up for the win. The fans cheered and sang the players on, something you dont here much at Odsal now a days.

We needed the win to keep up close to the teams above us and the preformance we displayed at Cas last week wasnt good with too many handling errors. But last nights game was spot on just what the guys needed.

Well done to McNamara and the guys in what is hopefully a turn around from our bad performances.