Archive
Sat, 06 September 2008
Castleford Tigers V Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls: Paul Sykes, Dave Halley, Semi Tadulala, James Evans, Chris Nero, Ben Jeffries, Paul Deacon, Joe Vagana, Terry Newton, Andy Lynch, Matt Cook, Simon Finnigan, Jamie Langley
Subs: Iestyn Harris, Wayne Godwin, Craig Kopczak, David Solomona
Tries: Semi Tadulala(3)
Goals: Iestyn Harris(2), Paul Deacon
Castleford Tigers: Donlan, Owen, Shenton, Dixon, Wainwright, McGoldrick, Dorn, Sargent, Henderson, Korkidas, Guttenbeil, Catic, Lupton.
Subs: Leafa, Higgins, Huby, Boyle.
Tries: Owen, Dixon, Boyle.
Goals: Dixon (2 from 3)
REPORT
Iestyn Harris kicked a last-gasp penalty at Wheldon Road as the Bradford Bulls snatched a dramatic 18-16 win against the Castleford Tigers to secure 5th place in the engage Super League.
The Bulls had struggled to shake off the league’s bottom side at The Jungle despite a hat-trick from winger Semi Tadulala.
With Warrington Wolves losing to Huddersfield Giants, the late win was enough to take the Bulls above the Wolves into fifth and therefore see them avoid a tricky play-off clash away to Catalans Dragons.
Yet they had to fight hard against a Castleford side determined to end a troubled campaign on a high.
The Tigers had only a mathematical chance of avoiding the wooden spoon but they were in the mood and dominated the first half with Awen Guttenbeil prominent in his final game before retirement.
They produced a strong response after falling behind to a Tadulala try out wide, created by a fine Paul Deacon run, after just two minutes.
Deacon added the conversion but the Tigers roared back as Stuart Donlan found space and sent winger Richard Owen over with a superb long pass.
Castleford went close again only for Ned Catic to knock on but the Bulls failed to heed the warning as a slick handling move in tight space put the hosts ahead.
Kirk Dixon claimed the try after Harlequins-bound Luke Dorn had passed outside to Michael Wainwright and he in turn had fired back inside to his centre.
Dixon converted and added a penalty soon afterwards and the Bulls were fortunate to hold out after a Peter Lupton break cut them open once again.
The Bulls made the most of their reprieve and levelled the scores on the stroke of half-time as Tadulala went over for his second, again in the corner.
That score, and possibly news that Warrington were trailing, seemed to galvanise the Bulls as they started the second half strongly.
Yet Castleford, strong in attack earlier, proved equally proficient in defence as they limited the impact of the industrious Paul Deacon and Wayne Godwin, who perhaps worryingly for the Bulls both left the field.
The Bulls forced successive drop-outs but Castleford held firm as they waited patiently for their own opportunities.
They seized their chance just after the hour as Andrew Henderson forced his way forward and Ryan Boyle twisted and turned his way over under posts for another Dixon-converted try.
Bradford dug deep, however, and in Tadulala still had a potent weapon.
The Fiji winger looked dangerous on every carry and when Chris Nero worked the ball to him with 10 minutes remaining he made no mistake as he cut inside to score.
Harris, taking over from the absent Deacon, nailed the difficult conversion to level at 16-16 and set up a tense finale.
It was Harris, off the bench, who created the opportunity to win the game, beating his man with an outrageous dummy.
Catic caught him but was penalised and sent off for holding down. Harris held his nerve to secure the points.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Bradford coach Steve McNamara insists the Bulls' best is still to come as they head into the play-offs on the back of three successive wins.
The Bulls had trailed 16-10 with 10 minutes remaining at The Jungle but Semi Tadulala's third try set up a tense finale and Iestyn Harris landed a late penalty to settle the game.
McNamara said: "It was certainly a strong hit-out for us for next week."
"We did some good things and some not-so-good things, so we have won in a different way."
"It was an ugly sort of win but it was important we knocked three wins off on the bounce."
"I thought we played well within ourselves tonight, with an eye on next week."
With Warrington losing to Huddersfield, the win was enough to lift the Bulls above the Wolves into fifth and set up a play-off tie at Wigan next week.
Remaining sixth would have left them facing a daunting trip to France to face third-placed Catalans but McNamara was more concerned about victory than identity of prospective opponents.
"We are not into contriving results - we take the win. Winning breeds confidence."
"If we are going to get to the Grand Final we have to play everyone along the track. We did what we had to do."
He added: "We have said all along, wherever we finish, whatever challenge is in front of us, we will do it."
Tigers coach Terry Matterson said: "I don't think we deserved that but I couldn't have been more proud of the boys."
"It was a fair penalty but what we want is consistency. We should have had a penalty about five minutes before that."
"We had our opportunities but it didn't go our way. I thought it was very courageous from both sides and I thought a draw would probably have been fair."
Defeat meant Castleford finished adrift at the foot of Super League in their first season back in the top flight.
"After 18 rounds we were on six points but the boys have certainly turned it around and we can take that into next year," Matterson added.
Key Bradford pair Paul Deacon and Wayne Godwin left the field in the second half but McNamara said their withdrawals were only precautionary.