Archive
Mon, 25 August 2008
Bradford Bulls V Hull Kingston Rovers
Bradford Bulls: Paul Sykes, Dave Halley, James Evans, Chris Nero, Semi Tadulala, Ben Jeffries, Paul Deacon, Joe Vagana, Terry Newton, Andy Lynch, Simon Finnigan, Matt Cook, Jamie Langley
Subs: Wayne Godwin, Craig Kopczak, David Solomona
Tries: Paul Sykes, Dave Halley, James Evans, Chris Nero, Semi Tadulala, Terry Newton, David Solomona, Matt Cook
Goals: Paul Deacon(5)
Hull KR: Briscoe, Fox, Welham, Webster, Steel, Galea, Dobson, Aizue, Fisher, Mills, Vella, Lovegrove, Gene.
Subs: Cooke, Cockayne, Crossman, K. Netherton.
Tries: Welham, Vella.
Goals: Dobson (3 from 3)
REPORT
Bradford Bulls overcame an 18-point deficit to keep alive their hopes of a top-four finish in engage Super League and finally quash Hull KR’s chances of making the play-offs.
Justin Morgan's side had looked set for an easy victory when they raced into an 18-0 lead inside the first quarter after Kris Welham went over and Mick Vella scored twice.
But the Bulls charged back with eight unanswered tries to give Joe Vagana the perfect farewell on his final league appearance at the Grattan Stadium, Odsal.
Paul Sykes and Dave Halley narrowed the gap to just eight points at half-time before the hosts let rip with three tries in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
David Solomona powered over from close range after bursting on to a neat inside-ball from Paul Deacon and then offloaded to Semi Tadulala to push the Bulls ahead for the first time.
Matt Cook touched down after racing on to his own kick before Chris Nero was quickest to react to Deacon's hanging cross-field punt.
James Evans and Terry Newton wrapped up an ultimately convincing win in the final quarter.
Evans had an early attempt ruled out by the video referee but that was Bradford's only real attack in the first 20 minutes.
Instead, Welham pushed Rovers ahead with a 70-metre burst after intercepting Ben Jeffries' pass before Vella beat Jeffries and fended off Sykes to double the visitors' advantage.
Vella grabbed his second as Rovers capitalised on Simon Finnigan's forward pass to Solomona and they looked ready to cruise to the points.
But Bradford recovered enough purpose to post two tries before the break and it was one-way traffic after the restart.
The Bulls can now jump to fourth place in the final round of matches but they must win at Castleford Tigers and hope Warrington Wolves slip up against Huddersfield Giants.
POST-MATCH REPORT
Bradford coach Steve McNamara insisted his side are capable of causing a play-off shock after watching the Bulls overcome an 18-point deficit against Hull Kingston Rovers.
The Bulls can finish as high as fourth if results go their way in the final round of regular league matches.
"It's not in our hands but we've given ourselves an opportunity if we win our last game. It makes it very interesting and we're looking forward to it," McNamara said.
"There's an awful lot of ability and resolve in that side and that showed in the second half. We're excited by what we could possibly do but equally we're not getting carried away."
McNamara added: "We were dreadful for large parts of the game and we were very lethargic, but the response was fantastic."
Hull KR boss Justin Morgan was left to reflect on a disappointing performance that had started so brightly.
"We were fairly good in the first half but we didn't take some good enough decisions on our last plays," Morgan said.
"We had the opportunity to put the boot in but we came up with some really poor kicks."
"We didn't get as excited without the ball as we did with the ball and that's been an issue for the last six or seven weeks.
"I think we've made progress this year. We're disappointed with some performances but sometimes we've exceeded expectations."
"What we've achieved this year needs to be the starting point for next season."