Bradford Bulls 10 St Helens 36: Bradford stunned as Lomax hat-trick earns Saints win

Saints coach Nathan Brown responded to a disappointing start to his time in charge by shaking up his side and the changes paid off handsomely with a seven-try rout of an out-of-sorts Bulls at Odsal’s Provident Stadium.

Brown’s decision to switch Lomax from scrum-half to full-back in the absence of injured Paul Wellens proved to be inspired.

He opened the scoring with his first try after only two minutes after Jon Wilkin’s kick had set up a repeat set of tackles.

Willie Manu added a second five minutes later, breaking through the first line of defence and wrong-footing full-back Brett Kearney, and it was quickly 16-0 when prop Anthony Laffranchi took James Roby’s short pass to crash over.

Unable to get a foothold in the game, it got worse for Bradford when Lomax took Wilkin’s pass and jinked his way past flat-footed defenders for his second try.

A first penalty to the home side after 30 minutes brought the biggest cheer from the frustrated Bulls fans and Bradford eventually began to ask a few questions of the St Helens defence.

Centre Matty Blythe squandered a glorious chance and scrum-half Jarrod Sammut was close to touching down Jamie Langley’s kick but Saints extended their lead to 26-0 via prop Tony Puletua.

The Bulls pulled a try back six minutes into the second half when Blythe carved out an opening for Kearney but the respite was short-lived.

Lomax supported a break down the wing by Francis Meli to complete his hat-trick and Gary Wheeler kicked his fourth goal before winger Ade Gardner scored the visitors’ sixth try.

The Bulls were well beaten but at least they had the final say when winger Elliot Kear grabbed a last-minute consolation try and former St Helens favourite Jamie Foster added the conversion. “We had very little possession in the first half an hour,” said Bulls coach Francis Cummins.

“They got a good roll-on and we spent too much time near our own goal-line. You can’t afford to play against the main teams without the ball. At the back end of the first half we asked some questions. We opened them up but couldn’t finish off.

“I was pleased with the fightback and in the second half we were able to trade sets but we need more quality than that to beat St Helens.” A bright aspect for Bradford was the return of second-rower James Donaldson after a 12-month injury absence.

“He came up with a good spell and steadied the ship,” said Cummins.

Bradford: Kearney, Kear, Blythe, Lulia, Foster, Addy, Sammut, Scruton, Diskin, Sidlow, Olbison, Whitehead, C. Walker. Substitutes: L’Estrange, Donaldson, Langley, Manuokafoa.

St Helens: Lomax, Gardner, Turner, Jones, Meli, Wheeler, Wilkin, Puletua, Roby, Laffranchi, Manu, Soliola, Flanagan. Substitutes: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Walker, Greenwood, Walmsley.

Referee: T Roby (RFL).