Archive
Fri, 28 June 2002
St Helens 34
Bradford Bulls 26
Bradford Bulls: Michael Withers, Tevita Vaikona, Brandon Costin, Scott Naylor, Nathan McAvoy, Robbie Paul, Paul Deacon, Joe Vagana, James Lowes, Stuart Fielden, Jamie Peacock, Daniel Gartner, Mike Forshaw
Subs: Lee Gilmour, Lesley Vainikolo, Brian McDermott, Richard Moore
Tries: Michael Withers, Tevita Vaikona, Brandon Costin (2)
Goals: Paul Deacon(5)
St Helens: Darren Albert, Sean Hoppe, Martin Gleeson, Paul Newlove, Anthony Stewart, Paul Sculthorpe, Paul Wellens, Darren Britt, Keiron Cunningham, Sonny Nickle, John Stankevitch, Chris Joynt, Peter Shiels
Subs: Barry Ward, Mike Bennett, Michael Higham, Tommy Martyn
Tries: Britt, Albert, Sculthorpe (2), Wellens (2)
Goals: Sculthorpe (5)
The first v second clash at the top of the table between the Bulls and the Saints was one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the year, and it lived up to the hype with some superb performances for the home side from Great Britain stars Paul Sculthorpe (20 point haul) and the returning Keiron Cunningham.
Brandon Costin struck first for the Bulls after Saints lost the ball in the tackle and the visitors scored from a move started from the base of the scrum. Michael Withers inside pass on the left wing found Costin who broke through a static home defence with Sculthorpe missing an easy tackle before scoring. Paul Deacon was accurate with the kick for two more points.
Sculthorpe more than made amends four minutes later when he went over for his first try. Bizarre defending from the Bulls saw Sculthorpe just dive between four Bradford players for his 400 St Helens career points.
Then a remarkable break-away run from Saints returning hero Keiron Cunningham in which he left some of Bradford's long-legged backs for dead created St Helens second try after 15 minutes. Saints got the ball over with Sculthorpe on top of it for his second try after some power play, but there was no doubting the importance of the run from Cunningham in that try.
Cunningham was at the heart of everything St Helens did well, and his was the final pass that put Darren Britt over despite the attention of Bulls full-back Withers. Prop forward Britt celebrated with purpose as it was the Australian's first try at Knowsley Road.
Bradford were visibly shaken, but they too had a double try scorer in their ranks with Costin running onto Paul Deacon's magnificent kick over the top of the Saints defence and beating Sean Hoppe in the jump for the ball. After consultation with the video referee to check Costin had timed his run onside, the try was given and Deacon narrowed the gap to six points at 18-12, as it remained to half-time.
Great Britain scrum half Paul Wellens got the second half off to a flyer with a neat dummy inside Jamie Peacock, scoring the try that may have been the crucial one for the Saints.
Super League champs Bradford though were not down and out by any means and soon dragged themselves back into the game as Cunningham made a mistake that allowed Mike Forshaw to steal possession. Forshaw's run cut open Saints, and the easy pass put the full-back Withers in.
The conversion and a later penalty from Deacon saw the Saints lead cut to just 4 points and the game evenly poised.
Saints were not about to be sucked under by the Bradford resurgance though, and Darren Albert popped up to remind the Bulls of their ability to strike at any time as he chased through a shallow kick from Sculthorpe to restore Saints 10 point lead at 30-20.
Tevita Vaikona emerged as from a quiet game to score his 15th try of the season - the highest in Super League. Daniel Gartner gave the Tongan winger the ball and a powerful run saw him move out to the right wing before cutting inside and swatting away the Saints defence before making the kick easy for Deacon.
With the game at boiling point the game was disrupted by disgraceful scenes as Bradford and Saints set out at each other with fists flying. Referee Robert Connolly sent Bradford's Mike Forshaw and Saints Sonny Nickle to the sin bin, but they could easily have been joined by many others.
Braford let the high kick bounce inside their own half and then Sculthorpe passed outside to Paul Wellens who kicked ahead, chased the ball down and just about got his fingertips to the ball to score the final try of the game and the conclusive winner. Paul Sculthorpe' s magnificent game was hardly soured as he failed to land a 100 per cent kicking record when his final attempt went wide.