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 record a hard-fought Super League victory over Bradford Bulls.
The hosts found themselves 12 points behind just after the break, but eventually protected the points thanks to a Deon Cross try in the last five minutes.
Earlier ratings from Shane Wright, Curtis Sironen, Tristan Sailor and Kyle Feldt assisted see off the Bulls, who played most of the second half with 12 men after Eliot Peposhi's termination.
A third straight win moves Saints level on points with second-place Warrington, while Bradford remain fifth 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 very first Super League conference in 12 years for the 2 sides, who contested the competitors's Grand Final in 1999 and 2002, and showed to be a gripping battle.
Wright's 3rd shot of the season put Saints in front early however the visitors reacted brilliantly to lead by the break.
A best 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 to the sin bin in his 300th career look.
The Bulls made the extra male count, and went over again through Connor Wynne to stretch the lead to 6.
At the other end, Esan Marsters produced an exceptional desperate tackle to stop the hosts levelling things up.
A fantastic breakaway rating from Wynne provided the Bulls a 12-point lead shortly after the reboot, before the St Helens fightback began.
Tries in quick succession from Sironen and Sailor - the previous verified following a review - brought the hosts back level and when Peposhi was sent moments later on it looked as though there would just be one winner.
Feldt's score certainly recommended it would be one-way traffic, only for the Bulls to benefit from a Saints sin-binning - this time for Joe Shorrock - and enter front as soon as more through Andy Ackers.
The Bradford backline stood strong for nearly 10 minutes, consisting of requiring the ball out of play with St Helens looking certain to score in the corner thanks to the work of 5 protectors.
Cross, however, slipped through in the closing phases to protect the win, and extend the Bulls' wait on an away success at Saints to 17 years.
St coach Paul Rowley:
"I believe we've got a little bit of character in the group, so that's great to see. We all think that's a non-negotiable, however it's not constantly evident in all groups, so that box is ticked.
"I believe we have found a way to win in regards to we've got a scattering of how I 'd like us to play.
"It's getting significantly hard with all the pieces in all the places that we have actually 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 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)