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 discovered themselves 12 points behind simply after the break, however ultimately secured the points thanks to a Deon Cross attempt in the last five minutes.
Earlier scores from Shane Wright, Curtis Sironen, Tristan Sailor and Kyle Feldt helped see off the Bulls, who played the majority of the 2nd half with 12 males after Eliot Peposhi's termination.
A third straight win level on points with second-place Warrington, while Bradford remain fifth having won 2 and lost 2 of their very first four video games back in the top tier.
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This was the first Super League conference in 12 years for the two sides, who objected to the competitors's Grand Final in 1999 and 2002, and proved to be a gripping struggle.
Wright's 3rd try of the season put Saints in front at an early stage however the visitors reacted remarkably 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 to the sin bin in his 300th profession appearance.
The Bulls made the additional man count, and went over once again through Connor Wynne to stretch the lead to 6.
At the other end, Esan Marsters produced an outstanding desperate take on to stop the hosts levelling things up.
A fantastic breakaway rating from Wynne offered the Bulls a 12-point lead soon after the restart, before the St Helens fightback began.
Tries in quick succession from Sironen and Sailor - the previous confirmed 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 rating definitely 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 enter front once more through Andy Ackers.
The Bradford backline stood strong for almost 10 minutes, including forcing the ball out of play with St Helens looking certain to score in the corner thanks to the work of five defenders.
Cross, however, slipped through in the closing phases to protect 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 character in the group, so that's excellent to see. All of us think that's a non-negotiable, however it's not constantly obvious in all teams, so that box is ticked.
"I think we have found 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 hard with all the pieces in all the places that we've got, however 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 see Castleford on Saturday, 14 March (18:00 GMT), while Bradford travel to Super League table-toppers Wigan Warriors on Friday, 13 March (20:00)