St Helens 30 Bradford Bulls 18: Break comes at welcome time for jaded Bulls after Saints loss

It is now just one win in seven Super League games and, while their spirit can never be questioned, all that early season swagger seems to have deserted them.

Yesterday was a genuine chance to revive; St Helens were opponents enduring a similar period of struggle who found themselves uncharacteristically outside of the top eight and on the end of some scathing criticism from chairman Eamonn McManus.

However it was the hosts, perked up by the return of dynamic England scrum-half Jonny Lomax after a three-month absence, who duly rediscovered their verve to deliver a crucial win and re-enter the play-off spots at their opponents’ expense.

Bradford, still missing key players, battled hard as they tend to do and never capitulated even when the likes of marauding forwards Willie Manu and Sia Soliola were threatening to run riot.

They bravely battled back from 24-6 down to get to within one score when Elliot Kear latched onto Luke Gale’s crossfield kick in the 67th minute.

However, perhaps typifying their recent troubles, a mix-up between the try-scorer and Adam Sidlow frustratingly saw the re-start bounce dead.

From the resulting drop-out, James Roby picked out Jon Wilkin with one of his trademark cut-out passes and the back-row – overlooked by England for the Exiles – squeezed over to ease the growing tension on his side.

The loss sees Bradford slip from seventh to ninth so they need this forthcoming period of reassessment to steady themselves and make sure a season of such promise does not dissipate further when Super League resumes for them in 13 days’ time against Widnes.

They also need the saga over transfer-listed Elliott Whitehead to be settled quickly but a plus point yesterday was the sight of 18-year-old Oliver Roberts making his debut in place of the dissatisfied England Knights second-row.

Bradford were under pressure from the off, though, and while they initially held firm, powerful ex-Hull FC second-row Manu eventually bundled over from close range in the 10th minute.

Gareth O’Brien kicked the first of his five goals and Bradford full-back Brett Kearney was called upon to throw himself in front of a rampaging Soliola soon after when he tore through once more, a sign of the relentless line-breaking to come.

There was no stopping Saints, though, when the thunderous Exiles second-row laid the platform with another strong surge before Lomax, with a late run, cleverly came from open to blind to create an overlap that Jordan Turner exploited for Tommy Makinson to dive in at the corner.

They should have been over again when Lomax unleashed Josh Jones but the centre’s return pass let Bradford off the hook.

In the searing heat, Francis Cummins’s side simply had to make their tackles count but too often the likes of Manu and Soliola continually shrugged off the first attempt and it meant they were forever chasing.

They did not even venture into the Saints’ 20 until nearing the half-hour mark but, in fairness, they made sure they returned with some dividends from that rare excursion.

Sidlow, the rangy prop who had just come on, did brilliantly to stay upright and keep his hands free as he strode towards the Saints line so that, despite numerous tacklers hanging on, he was able to squeeze out an offload for Kearney to dive over next to the posts.

Gale improved but Bradford were quickly reminded of Saints’ threat when, after keeping the ball alive on the last tackle, Jones was only denied a try in the corner due to a foot in touch. The hosts were not deterred. After sprightly ex-Hull FC centre Turner ran through Danny Addy to set up another promising position it was Wilkin’s short delayed pass that then put Soliola crashing in.

Saints needed Roby to crucially recover and scramble dead Gale’s reverse chip on the hooter to deny Kearney a second but, despite the 18-6 interval scoreline, it had largely been the home side dominant.

Bulls looked to start brightly in the second period but two opportunities were wasted with the latter, crucially, immediately turned into another six points for their grateful opponents.

It was Sidlow who tried another offload but this time it went to ground, leaving Jones to pick up and race 60m.

O’Brien maintained his 100 per cent record but Bradford continued to show character and were deservedly rewarded in the 58th minute when some sharp passing to the right saw Kearney usher Matty Blythe through.

Saints began to look uneasy and more pressure saw the visitors further cut the deficit with that try from Kear.

But then came that error and Saints were allowed to breathe easy once more.

St Helens: Wellens; Makinson, Turner, Jones, Meli;. Lomax, O’Brien; Puletua, Roby, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Soliola, Manu, Wilkin. Substitutes: Walmsley, Hand, Clough, Howarth.

Bradford: Kearney; Kear, Blythe, Lulia, Platt; Addy, Gale; Scruton, L’Estrange, Langley, Bateman, Olbison, Donaldson. Substitutes: Diskin, Evans, Roberts, Sidlow.

Referee: T Alibert (Toulouse).

Cummins fumes as Bulls throw away points

FRUSTRATED Bradford Bulls coach Francis Cummins felt like he was suffering from deja vu last night after another painful loss for his side, writes Dave Craven.

The West Yorkshire club had showed real resilience and fortitude to fight their way back into a game which rampant St Helens looked like running away with yesterday.

Elliot Kear’s converted try had seen them overturn a 12-point deficit to trail just 24-18 with 13 minutes remaining.

However, the same player crucially failed to deal with the restart which bounced dead and Jon Wilkin stretched over to seal the win for Saints.

Cummins, whose side have now fallen to ninth and won just once since the first week of April, was understandably aggrieved.

“It is the same pattern,” he said. “We get ourselves back in position and then somebody – in this case Elliot Kear – shows a lack of concentration or makes a poor decision and we end up shooting ourselves in the foot.

“The last thing we need to see is a team like Saints getting a free set just when we’re flying high and they were a little bit down.

“I’ve said most weeks about the character of our team and being able to fight back like we do.

“But Saints dominated the first half and with 17 offloads in those conditions, a warm game, we were always going to be chasing our tails.

“I was happy with our response but we were second best.”

He insisted the loss of England Knights second-row Elliott Whitehead, who was placed on indefinite leave last week after asking for a move, was not an issue.

“I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” said Cummins.

“There’s no doubt it’s been a strange week because of that but it hasn’t affected training apart from we haven’t got Elliott Whitehead to train and play.

“No doubt there’s some short-term pain there as we’ve lost a player of Elliott’s ability but longer term it was the right decision.”

England Academy back-row Oliver Roberts made his debut in Whitehead’s absence, coming on after Keith Lulia suffered a knock to the head.

On the Brighouse-based 18-year-old, Cummins said: “He did well. He’s a good lad and has got a little taste of it now, although the game was very fast when they had the ball and quite slow when we had it.”