BRADFORD BULLS 22 FEATHERSTONE ROVERS 8
THOMAS ALDERSON, Bartercard Odsal, Sunday
BRADFORD BULLS ended their regular season campaign with a tough win over Featherstone, taking good form into the play offs where they’ll face the same opponents again in a do or die clash.
The Bulls came into the game knowing they would finish third on the ladder, with the outcome of the game influencing only who they would play.
Having rested six players, Bradford made a number of errors, but their ability to defend their line and then go through the gears was impressive, scoring three tries late in the piece that saw Rovers fall to sixth place, setting up a rematch five days later.
For Featherstone, despite battling hard until the end with key play makers missing, the loss saw Halifax leapfrog them on the day.
Bulls boss Brian Noble was delighted with the result after his side showed great resilience late in the game.
“We can certainly help ourselves a lot more than we did today, but we defended really well which is really pleasing,” he said.
“Featherstone came with a decent game plan which didn’t trouble us, and the quality of our team came through in the end.
“We can improve our kicking game, but I’m thrilled with the win, and we’ll look forward to taking on Featherstone again next week,” he added.
Despite the loss, Rovers head coach Paul Cooke was proud of his side.
“I thought we were really brave and I’m proud of the players,” he said.
“To lose two to HIAs and activate the 18th man, with no halves, we couldn’t have done it much tougher but we’re looking forward to coming back on Friday.
“One thing I never question is the side’s togetherness. We’re a team, we’re one in all in and we’re looking forward to coming back here ready to go.”
It was a physical start to the game as both sides looked to assert their authority and the visitors were forced into an early reshuffle, losing Josh Hardcastle and Connor Jones to head knocks in the first half, bringing James Glover in as 18th man.
It was Rovers who took the lead after 15 minutes through former Bull Danny Addy, who slotted a penalty goal from close range.
The visitors kept applying pressure on the Bradford line, but the Bulls defence kept turning up to repel their opponents time and time again.
After being starved of field position, the hosts worked down field and Luke Hooley slotted a long range penalty to lock up the scores at half-time.
Featherstone grabbed the first try off the game soon after the break to retake the lead, with a break from Clay Webb providing Glover with space to put Connor Barley in for a converted score.
Addy tried to put Rovers two scores up, but his field goal attempt sailed wide and that was as good as it got for Rovers, as the Bulls clicked into gear late in the game to take control with three quick tries.
Joe Keyes darted over from close range to level up the scores before Tom Holmes joined him on the scoresheet, taking a lovely pass from Mitch Souter to put the hosts in front for the first time.
Hooley nudged his side further in front with a penalty before Kieran Gill raced in for Bradford’s third successive try to seal a hard fought win.
GAMESTAR: Sam Hallas was everywhere for Bradford, punishing Rovers with his defence in a fine display.
GAMEBREAKER: Bradford’s second try in as many minutes put the Bulls in front and broke the back of Featherstone.
MATCHFACTS
BULLS
26 Luke Hooley
37 Jayden Okunbor
6 James Meadows
25 Bayley Liu
4 Kieran Gill
1 Tom Holmes
7 Joe Keyes
15 Logan Bayliss
14 Mitch Souter
10 Ebon Scurr
11 Zac Fulton
22 Eliot Peposhi
18 Sam Hallas
Subs (all used)
19 Tyran Ott
20 Ronan Michael
35 Zane Musgrove
30 Jamie Gill
Tries: Keyes (71), Holmes (75), K Gill (80)
Goals: Hooley 4/4, Meadows 1/1
ROVERS
24 Bailey O’Connor
23 Connor Wynne
5 Gareth Gale
20 Josh Hardcastle
– Connor Barley
13 Danny Addy
1 Caleb Aekins
8 Gadwin Springer
9 Will Jubb
10 Jimmy Beckett
11 Brad Day
17 Clay Webb
37 Nathan Wilde
Subs (all used)
14 Connor Jones
15 Sitaleki Akauola
19 Robson Stevens
21 Jordan Williams
18th man (used)
29 James Glover
Tries: Barley (52)
Goals: Addy 2/2
Field goals: Addy 0/1
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-2, 2-2; 2-8, 8-8, 14-8, 16-8, 22-8
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Bulls: Sam Hallas; Rovers: Clay Webb
Penalty count: 8-7
Half-time: 2-2
Referee: James Vella
Attendance: 3,684