Sun, 16 March 2008
Bradford Bulls V Warrington Wolves
Bradford Bulls: Paul Sykes, Semi Tadulala, James Evans, Shontayne Hape, Tame Tupou, Ben Jeffries, Paul Deacon, Andy Lynch, Terry Newton, Chris Feather, Chris Nero, Simon Finnigan, Sam Burgess
Subs: Matt Cook, Wayne Godwin, Matt James, David Solomona
Tries: Paul Sykes, Ben Jeffries, Sam Burgess
Goals: Paul Deacon(5)
Drop Goals: Paul Deacon
Warrington Wolves: Reardon, Hicks, M. Gleeson, King, Johnson, Briers, Monaghan, Morley, Clarke, Rauhihi, L. Anderson, Westwood, V. Anderson.
Subs: M. Gleeson, Parker, Pickersgill, Bracek.
Tries: Hicks, Johnson.
Goals: Briers (1 from 2)
REPORT
Bradford recorded their second successive win in engage Super League, beating Warrington 23-10 at the Grattan Stadium, Odsal.
Tries from Paul Sykes, Ben Jeffries and Sam Burgess and some solid kicking from Paul Deacon helped the Bulls to earn their third win after a stuttering start to the campaign.
Chris Hicks and Paul Johnson replied for Warrington but they were unable to join champions Leeds at the top of the table as they fell to their second defeat.
As well as kicking five goals and one drop-goal, Deacon provided a superb grubber kick for Burgess' try just before half time.
Warrington simply had no answer to Deacon's kicking game - despite including Matt King, their star centre who was concussed by Richard Mathers' high tackle last week.
Bradford were missing injured quartet Glenn Morrison, Michael Platt, Jamie Langley and Joe Vagana - but they were on top from the start.
Lee Briers dropped Deacon's swirling kick-off, and the Bulls were quick to capitalise when Deacon booted over a simple penalty after Warrington were caught offside in the next set.
Bradford extended their lead when Terry Newton and Jeffries combined to send Sykes through for his fifth try of the campaign.
But the visitors quickly responded. Louis Anderson's superb pass gave his brother Vinnie enough space to feed Paul Johnson, but the Wolves struggled to make any further impact.
Instead, Burgess dived on to the loose ball after Michael Monaghan deflected Deacon's grubber to give the hosts an eight-point lead at half time.
The second half started in similar fashion to the first, Deacon notching a 40-metre penalty in the opening minute before adding another when Ben Westwood was penalised for a dangerous tackle.
Warrington clawed back some respect when Chris Hicks, who has scored in every round of Super League this season, raced on to Briers' clever kick to the corner.
Hicks' try set up a tense finish, despite Briers missing the touchline conversion.
But Jeffries completed the win with a 70-metre burst, after intercepting King's wayward pass.
POST MATCH COMMENTS
Steve McNamara - already missing Michael Platt, Jamie Langley, Joe Vagana and Glenn Morrison - said: "Sykes is not looking great and he's going for an x-ray on his elbow."
"Tame has damaged his knee, but that probably needs 24 hours before we can assess it properly."
McNamara praised his side's determination.
He said: "We were solid without being spectacular. The pitch and conditions dictated it was not going to be too spectacular - but we did what we needed to."
Paul Cullen blamed a lack of patience for Warrington's downfall at Odsal.
The Wolves missed the chance to go top, and Cullen admitted: "We've paid the price for pushing the pass."
"They beat us in the battle for field position, and that was always going to be the key factor in these conditions. We were probably guilty of trying to win the game a little bit too early."
"In the first 20 minutes we put the ball down four times on their try-line. They knocked off the sets and spent the game at the right end of the field."
Cullen also allayed fears over Michael Monaghan's fitness.
"He was taken off as a precaution for what's to come," he said.
"He's been carrying a couple of knocks for a while."