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 League success over Bradford Bulls.
The hosts discovered themselves 12 points behind just after the break, but ultimately protected the points thanks to a Deon Cross attempt in the last five minutes.
Earlier ratings from Shane Wright, Curtis Sironen, Tristan Sailor and Kyle Feldt assisted see off the Bulls, who played the bulk of the second half with 12 males after Eliot Peposhi's dismissal.
A third straight win moves Saints level on points with second-place Warrington, while Bradford remain fifth having actually won 2 and lost 2 of their first 4 games back in the leading tier.
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This was the very first Super League meeting in 12 years for the 2 sides, who contested the competition's Grand Final in 1999 and 2002, and proved to be a gripping battle.
Wright's 3rd shot of the season put Saints in front early on but the visitors responded remarkably to lead by the break.
A perfect grubber kick from Luke Hooley established Ethan Ryan to level ball games up, and Hooley then kicked his side in front after David Klemmer was sent to the sin bin in his 300th career appearance.
The Bulls made the additional guy count, and repeated through Connor Wynne to stretch the lead to 6.
At the other end, Esan Marsters produced an excellent last-ditch tackle to stop the hosts levelling things up.
A fantastic breakaway score from Wynne provided the Bulls a 12-point lead soon after the restart, before the St Helens fightback began.
Tries in fast succession from Sironen and Sailor - the previous verified following a review - brought the hosts back level and when Peposhi was sent out off moments later it looked as though there would just be one winner.
Feldt's score certainly suggested it would be one-way traffic, just for the Bulls to benefit from a Saints sin-binning - this time for Joe Shorrock - and enter front as soon as more through Andy Ackers.
The Bradford backline stood strong for almost 10 minutes, consisting of requiring the ball out of have fun with St Helens looking certain to score in the corner thanks to the work of five protectors.
Cross, nevertheless, slipped through in the closing stages to secure 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 good to see. We all think that's a non-negotiable, but it's not always evident in all teams, so that box is ticked.
"I think we have found a method to win in terms of we've got a sprinkling of how I 'd like us to play.
"It's getting increasingly hard with all the pieces in all the places that we have actually got, however we are scoring some tries 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 are in Challenge Cup action next week.
St Helens visit Castleford on Saturday, 14 March (18:00 GMT), while Bradford travel to Super League table-toppers Wigan Warriors on Friday, 13 March (20:00)