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 recuperated from an early second-half deficit to record a hard-fought Super League success over Bradford Bulls.
The hosts discovered themselves 12 points behind simply after the break, however ultimately secured the points thanks to a Deon Cross try in the last 5 minutes.
Earlier ratings from Shane Wright, Curtis Sironen, Tristan Sailor and Kyle Feldt helped see off the Bulls, who played the majority of the second half with 12 males after Eliot Peposhi's dismissal.
A third straight win relocations Saints level on points with second-place Warrington, while Bradford remain 5th having won 2 and lost 2 of their first 4 video games back in the leading tier.
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This was the very first Super League meeting in 12 years for the two sides, who objected to the competition's Grand Final in 1999 and 2002, and showed to be a gripping battle.
Wright's 3rd shot of the season put Saints in front at an early stage however the visitors responded brilliantly to lead by the break.
An ideal 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 out to the sin bin in his 300th career look.
The Bulls made the extra man count, and went over once again through Connor Wynne to extend the cause 6.
At the other end, Esan Marsters produced an outstanding last-ditch take on to stop the hosts levelling things up.
A terrific breakaway rating from Wynne offered the Bulls a 12-point lead shortly after the reboot, before the St Helens fightback started.
Tries in fast succession from Sironen and Sailor - the former validated following a review - brought the hosts back level and when Peposhi was sent out off minutes later on it looked as though there would just be one winner.
Feldt's score certainly recommended it would be one-way traffic, just for the Bulls to make the most of 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 nearly 10 minutes, including forcing the ball out of have fun with St Helens looking certain to score in the corner thanks to the work of five protectors.
Cross, however, slipped through in the closing phases to secure the win, and extend the Bulls' await an away success at Saints to 17 years.
St Helens head coach Paul Rowley:
"I believe we have actually got a little bit of character in the group, so that's excellent to see. We all believe that's a non-negotiable, but it's not always apparent in all teams, so that box is ticked.
"I think we have actually found a method to win in terms of we've got a of how I 'd like us to play.
"It's getting progressively difficult with all the pieces in all the places that we've got, however we are scoring some shots 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 teams remain in Challenge Cup action next week.
St Helens go to Castleford on Saturday, 14 March (18:00 GMT), while Bradford travel to Super League table-toppers Wigan Warriors on Friday, 13 March (20:00)