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Hull FC vs Bradford Bulls (H) 22 - 16 Won |
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01/06/08
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Grattan Stadium
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Steve Ganson
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Bradford Bulls
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22 - 16
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Hull made a mockery of their horror record at Bradford which has brought them only one win in the Super League era.
Three tries in the space of 12 minutes either side of half time tipped
the scales Hull’s way and then an incredible second half defensive
performance has taken Hull within sight of their first Wembley
appearance since that classic final against Wigan in 1985.
Hull really did new coach Richard Agar proud and they once again showed the response he has asked for in the last two weeks.
Even when they were reduced to 11 men against 13 following the sin
binning of Lee Radford and Jamie Thackray they refused to wilt and in
fact, this period seem to galvanise them even further.
Although at times in the second half they put themselves under
pressure, four times losing the ball on the first tackle, the desire
was sensational and it was that kind of attitude which carried them to
a massive confidence boosting win.
Hull turned down a chance to go for goal when Harris was given offside on his own goal line after Berrigan had gone close.
They went for a try but the opportunity disappeared when Tickle’s pass went behind Horne and into touch.
Bradford responded through Vagana and they got a penalty for offside
and then gained further 10 metres when Berrigan back chat Ganson and
from the penalty Harris put the home team 2-0 ahead.
With 10 minutes gone Ganson pulled Radford out and warned Hull after giving Bradford a penalty on their 20 for lying on.
It was Hull’s turn to get a couple of back to back penalties and from
the second on 13 minutes for laying on Tickle levelled the scores at
2-2.
After Berrigan failed to get his kick away on the sixth, Bradford edged
forward and Hull were penalised for laying on leaving Harris to put the
Bulls 4-2 ahead with the kick.
On a wet, damp afternoon it was always going to be tricky but the game
struggled to flow as Mr Ganson penalised both sides repeatedly.
With 20 minutes gone Sykes was penalised for a high tackle and Tickle
made no mistake with a 40 metres penalty to level the scores up again
at 4-4.
Much of the game was played in midfield and Hull hadn’t had many opportunities to test the Bradford line.
On the other hand the Bulls had far more opportunities but Hull’s
defence was again excellent just as it had been against St Helens the
previous week.
After handing out his 12th penalty, Ganson sent Jeffries to the sin
bin. Hull went for the try and when they lost the ball they were
penalised for arguing for the second time in the game.
Bradford took their chance and came back at Hull and gained an extra
set when they carried Sing into touch on their own 20. In the resulting
set Radford was sent to the sin bin after Ganson penalised Hull for
lying on. Harris restored Bradford’s lead with his third penalty
success of the game.
Hull were reduced to 11 men when Thackray was sin binned for descent
after 32 minutes but a minute later they took the lead when Sing
pounced on Harris pass and raced 80 metres to the Bulls line. Tickle
added his third goal to give Hull a 10-6 lead.
With Jeffries now back on Bradford had a two man advantage and they got
a lucky extra set when Ganson ignored a blatant obstruction on
Washbrook as he went for a loose ball. Fortunately Bradford wasted
their chance when Burgess lost the ball in the tackle but the game had
not restarted before on the Touch Judges intervention Halley became the
fourth player to be sin binned.
Hull finished the half in sensational style when Washbrook made an
outstanding break in midfield, Graeme Horne carried the move forward
and produced a sizzling pass to Dykes who then sent Byrne racing to the
line for Tickle to add the goal and give Richard Agar’s men a 16-6 lead.
Hull was back to 13 on the restart with Radford and Thackray both back on against Bradford’s 12.
With three minutes of the second half gone Hull had stretched their
lead when a flowing crossfield move saw Sing score his second try.
Dykes, Washbrook, Radford and Tickle all combined to split the Bulls
left side defence. Tickle landed the goal to give Hull a 22-6 lead.
Wheeldon was unlucky to have had adjudged to have knocked on with his
first touch when the reply blatantly showed Hape’s hand had released
the ball.
After Dykes had been penalised for lying on and Radford warned by
Ganson, Hull were forced to drop out when Raynor was trapped in goal
and from the resulting set Tupou went over for Harris to goal and
reduce Hull’s lead to 22-12 with 53 minutes gone.
Hull got a quick chance to apply pressure when Jeffries failed to
defuse Tickle’s kick off but their chance went when Wheeldon knocked on.
It looked to have proved costly when Sing failed to gather Harris’ kick
in goal and Newton dived on the loose ball but the video referee
Richard Silverwood gave an offside and the try was disallowed with Hull
gaining a penalty and also retaining their 22-12 lead.
Bradford hit back and Newton went close before Hull were penalised for
offside. In the next set Bradford were give an extra six and when
Solomona lost the ball Byrne was adjudged to have knocked on by Ganson
but after consulting the video referee his decision was reversed and
Hull got a crucial scrum.
It was tough going for Hull as Bradford got another chance when
Berrigan was adjudged to have knocked on inside his own 20 but great
defence again kept the Bulls out.
The pressure was back when Horne lost the ball in his own 20 and
Bradford stormed forward but Hull refused to be broken and Raynor dived
on Harris’ kick on the sixth.
With nine minutes to go Manu almost forced his way over and then from Dykes’ cross kick Sing went close to his hat trick.
Bradford came back with a tremendous bout of passing until Sykes dropped the ball and took all the pressure off Hull.
Bradford had battered the Hull line and finally it broke two minutes
from time when Sykes managed to force his way over on the sixth tackle.
Harris missed the goal and Hull led 22-16.
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| Todd Byrne; Matt Sing, Graeme Horne, Kirk Yeaman, Gareth Raynor; Danny
Washbrook, Adam Dykes; Ewan Dowes, Shaun Berrigan, Garreth Carvell,
Willie Manu, Lee Radford, Danny Tickle. Substitutes: Danny Houghton,
Scott Wheeldon, Tommy Lee, Jamie Thackray. |
Michael Platt; Dave Halley, Paul Sykes, Shontayne Hape, James Evans;
Iestyn Harris, Ben Jeffries; Joe Vagana, Terry Newton, Andy Lynch,
David Solomona, Jamie Langley, Sam Burgess. Substitutes: Matt James,
Simon Finnigan, Matt Cook, Tame Tupou. |
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