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 recuperated 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 protected the points thanks to a Deon Cross try in the final five minutes.


Earlier scores from Shane Wright, Curtis Sironen, Tristan Sailor and Kyle Feldt assisted see off the Bulls, who played the of the 2nd half with 12 men after Eliot Peposhi's termination.


A third straight win relocations Saints level on points with second-place Warrington, while Bradford remain 5th having actually won two and lost 2 of their very first four video games back in the leading tier.


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


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


A perfect grubber kick from Luke Hooley established Ethan Ryan to level the scores 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 man count, and went over once again through Connor Wynne to extend the result in 6.


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


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


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


Feldt's score certainly suggested it would be one-way traffic, just for the Bulls to take advantage 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, 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 think we have actually got a bit of character in the group, so that's excellent to see. We all believe that's a non-negotiable, however it's not constantly apparent in all teams, so that box is ticked.


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


"It's getting significantly tough 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 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)