BRADFORD BULLS 10 ST HELENS 40
KEITH McGHIE, Bartercard Odsal, Saturday

ST HELENS came from behind by scoring 38 unanswered points to consolidate their position among the play-off places.

But an ultimately comfortable victory in a disjointed encounter had many disgruntled and frustrated onlookers heading for the exits long before the end of this drawn-out marathon.

Part of the reason for the two-hour plus clash was what appeared to be a serious injury which necessitated a stretcher ride for Will Gardiner in the dying moments of the game, but there were many other factors.

The result was a fourth defeat in five games for Bradford, who led 10-2 midway through the first half.

The Bulls, having been through several halfback combinations already this year, were relieved to give the roles to Chris Atkin and Jayden Nikorima again – the latter having sufficiently shaken off a shoulder injury.

Saints were notably without Daryl Clark, nursing an undisclosed niggle, and Mark Percival (hamstring) but were able to field second rower Curtis Sironen for the 100th time in a St Helens shirt.

With the recent heatwave having significantly relented, Saints might have set some kind of record by invoking a captain’s challenge, which proved ‘inconclusive’, after just 51 seconds.

The Merseysiders were at it again less than two minutes later but, after ‘unsuccessful’ flashed up on the big screen the second time and once the 8pm kick-off was allowed to flow, the visitors were awarded the first penalty and Jackson Hastings duly slotted the two points.

Atkin was taken out late by Shane Wright, who was sin-binned for his indiscretion, allowing Atkin to level the scores from where the ball alighted.

Bulls’ one-time Saint Waqa Blake touched down but from a blatantly forward offload from Ethan Ryan, before Luke Hooley kicked the Bulls ahead with a penalty for an off-the-ball incident.

The lead was extended to eight points when Phoenix Steinwede latched onto a cleverly-disguised, delayed pass from Atkin and Hooley added the two.

On the half-hour mark St Helens struck when they created an extra man on their left for winger Jacob Douglas to score on his debut.

Just before the break, Saints pressure and several successive sets enabled Sironen to score on his milestone appearance, with Hastings’ conversion edging the visitors in front once more.

After the restart, Jack Welsby successfully chased a Hastings kick in-goal to open the lead further.

The Australian halfback then added a penalty before Joe Shorrocks reclaimed his own rebounded grubber kick to score and help St Helens into a three-score lead.

Hastings, so often the engineer, was then alert enough to ground an awkwardly rebounding kick of his own making, before launching a perfectly weighted kick for Welsby to run onto in the closing minutes.

Gardiner went down two minutes from the end and it was around ten minutes before he was carefully removed from the field of play and the game was allowed to finish.

GAMESTAR: Jackson Hastings registered 20 points in an industrious display, always alert to opportunities.

GAMEBREAKER: Saints’ 28 unanswered points after the break built a lead the Bulls never looked likely to recover.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: The timing and execution of Chris Atkin’s move that created Bradford’s sole try for Phoenix Steinwede.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Jackson Hastings (St Helens)
2 pts Jack Welsby (St Helens)
1 pt Phoenix Steinwede (Bradford)

MATCHFACTS

BULLS
1 Caleb Aekins
23 Connor Wynne
24 Guy Armitage
4 Waqa Blake
5 Ethan Ryan
6 Jayden Nikorima
32 Chris Atkin
8 Ryan Sutton
9 Andy Ackers
15 Eribe Doro
11 Dan Russell
34 Phoenix Steinwede
13 Joe Mellor
Subs (all used)
16 Ebon Scurr
19 Will Gardiner
22 Luke Hooley
25 Eliot Peposhi
18th man (not used)
38 Riley Dean
Also in 20-man squad
14 Mitch Souter
– Jack Ormomdroyd

Tries: Steinwede (34)
Goals: Atkin 1/1, Hooley 2/2

SAINTS
1 Jack Welsby
26 Jacob Douglas (D)
3 Harry Robertson
25 Nene Macdonald
24 Owen Dagnell
6 Tristan Sailor
31 Jackson Hastings
8 Alex Walmsley
22 Joe Shorrocks
35 Daniel Suluka-Fifita
11 Curtis Sironen
12 Shane Wright
13 David Klemmer
Subs (all used)
14 Jacob Host
15 George Delaney
28 Jake Davies
30 Tom Humphries
18th man (not used)
23 Jake Burns
Also in 21-man squad
29 Alfie Sinclair
– Billy Keeley
– Deacon Swarbrick

Tries: Douglas (30), Sironen (36), Welsby (44, 78), Shorrocks (58), Hastings (64)
Goals: Hastings 8/9
Sin bin: Wright (12) – late tackle

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-2, 2-2, 4-2, 10-2, 10-6, 10-12, 10-18, 10-20, 10-26, 10-32, 10-34, 10-40

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Bulls: Phoenix Steinwede; Saints: Jackson Hastings

Penalty count: 5-10
Half-time: 10-12
Referee: Liam Rush
Attendance: 7,019