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 triumph over Bradford Bulls.


The hosts found themselves 12 points behind just after the break, however eventually secured the points thanks to a Deon Cross attempt in the final 5 minutes.


Earlier ratings 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 guys after Eliot Peposhi's dismissal.


A third straight win relocations Saints level on points with second-place Warrington, while Bradford stay 5th having actually won 2 and lost 2 of their very first four 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 showed to be a gripping struggle.


Wright's third shot of the season put Saints in front at an early stage but the visitors reacted brilliantly to lead by the break.


A best grubber kick from Luke Hooley set up Ethan Ryan to level the scores 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 male count, and repeated through Connor Wynne to extend the cause 6.


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


A terrific breakaway rating from Wynne offered the Bulls a 12-point lead quickly after the reboot, before the St Helens fightback began.


Tries in fast succession from Sironen and Sailor - the former validated following an evaluation - brought the hosts back level and when Peposhi was sent minutes later it looked as though there would only be one winner.


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


The Bradford backline stood strong for nearly 10 minutes, including forcing the ball out of have fun with St Helens looking certain to score in the corner thanks to the work of 5 protectors.


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


St Helens head coach Paul Rowley:


"I believe we've got a little bit of character in the team, so that's excellent to see. All of us think that's a non-negotiable, but it's not constantly obvious in all teams, so that box is ticked.


"I believe we have actually found a way to win in regards to we've got a scattering of how I 'd like us to play.


"It's getting progressively hard with all the pieces in all the locations that we've 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 groups 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)