Round 6
Harlequins 22 l. Bradford Bulls 36

2007 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Bulls stoop to conquer
Mon March 19, 2007
Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

engage Super League leaders Bradford Bulls survived a huge scare at Harlequins RL to move clear at the top of the table.

The Bulls romped into a 12-0 lead inside the first quarter but Quins matched the leaders for the next 40 minutes ? twice taking the lead ? only for Steve McNamara's men to show their class at the death.

The Bulls were rewarded for their early dominance in the ninth minute when loose forward Jamie Langley crashed over from 10 yards.

Paul Deacon confidently converted and the lead was doubled nine minutes later. Australian second-rower Glenn Morrison skipped through the Quins' static defence to score his fourth try of the season.

Deacon again converted but Quins were back in it when Paul Sykes finished off a free-flowing move on the half hour.

Sykes could not add the extras but two minutes later the hosts had their second try. Substitute Jon Grayshon broke the Bulls' defensive line 40 yards out before feeding Rob Purdham to go over to cut the deficit to 12-8 at the break.

Four minutes after the restart Purdham had a second when he got on the end of Mark McLinden's pass to go in at the corner.

Sykes again missed the kick but his side hit the front five minutes later when winger Jon Wells got on the end of Scott Hill's grubber kick and finished in the corner.

But that woke the Bulls from their slumbers and after 54 minutes the outstanding Morrison spotted a gap in the home defence to go in under the posts and put his side back in front.

Sykes then intercepted a pass from Iestyn Harris to restore the lead but Harris made immediate amends for his error to make it 24-22 in the 62nd minute.

The Bulls gave themselves some breathing distance five minutes later when Lesley Vainikolo intercepted a pass before running the length of the field to go in under the posts, with Deacon converting his fifth goal.

Bulls full-back Michael Platt sealed the win seven minutes from time when he crossed for the 11th try of a thrilling match.

Report source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk


When two Macs meet
Fri March 16, 2007
Source: www.quins.co.uk

Saturday presents a supreme challenge for Harlequins Rugby League and Head Coach, Brian McDermott; a visit by Bradford Bulls, the team at the top of the engage Super League table.

The Twickenham Stoop will see Super League's best attacking team try and penetrate the best defence in the competition, against a backdrop of St Paddy's Day celebrations.

If Quins are to conquer the Bulls, it will surely need an eighty minute effort; Quins past two games (Wigan and Warrington) saw them lead at the interval only to fall short approaching full time. Similarly, against Salford, Harlequins looked to have the match in the bag, but for a try on the whistle that split the points.

Brian McDermott said the Wigan match was one of the toughest games he has seen in recent times and he was very proud of the effort. This week, says the former Royal Marine, there is increasing pressure on some to perform:

"It's been another good week in training carrying on from what I thought was a tough effort from our players at Wigan. We've looked long and hard at the video from that game and there were some really encouraging signs.

"Lee (Hopkins) could well be back from injury and of course Villa (Richard Villasanti) is also in the mix for selection. We're at the stage now where there is pressure on individual players to come up with the right performance and this is helping us as a team."

Henry Paul also knows a lot about coming up against one of his former clubs; he did it just last week at Wigan: "You see a few faces around the place and you will always remain friends but it's not really anything to do with the past, it's about the respect you have for teams like Bradford. They have earned it over the years and so it's always pretty special when you beat them.

"They pose a lot of questions of your defence and they pose a massive threat. It will take a very big effort to stop them but we are quietly confident that we can get the job done."

Paul also knows a lot about the mindset of both coaches; he played alongside both Macs (Brian McDermott) and (Steve McNamara) when at Odsal.

"Brian has his own style as a coach and one thing we don't do is chop and change things too much. We didn't change things when we won those earlier games and although we've lost a couple, we haven't made any drastic changes. There's no need to.

"It's all about building on our performances. We're frustrated about the way a couple of games have turned out but we've been right in every game we have played, so it's not about now doing anything out of the ordinary."

The Bulls are coming off their biggest win of the season; a 10-try, 56-18 victory over Salford which took Steve McNamara's men to the top of the Super League table.

Last season, results were split: an 18-18 draw in round two was followed by a landslide victory to Bradford (16-58) on their first visit to the Stoop in May. Quins RL then staged a gutsy 28-26 revival in August to get the points in what was McDermott's second home game in charge.

Quins will be televising the RBS Six Nations game between Wales and England from 5.30pm, and the engage Super League Grand Final rematch between Hull FC and St Helens at 6pm, in the bars after the match.

Super League's Biggest St Paddy's Day Party starts from 1pm and the 'defensive' theme continues; the Royal Marine Band, HMS Raleigh will provide pre-match entertainment from 2.20pm and the British Army Community Cup will take place as a curtain raiser to the main event.

Tickets start at 12 pounds - 020 8410 6000 or book online at www.quins.co.uk

Harlequins:
Gafa, Grayshon, Heckenberg, Hill, Hopkins, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, McLinden, Melling, Mills, Orr, Paul, Purdham, Randall, Rinaldi, A. Smith, T. Smith, Sykes, Temata, Villasanti, Wells.

Bradford:
Morrison, Burgess, McKenna, Cook, I. Harris, McAvoy, Evans, St Hilaire, B. Harris, Langley, Kopczak, Feather, Deacon, Vagana, Vainikolo, Hape, Solomona, Platt, Lynch, Henderson.

News sent by: www.quins.co.uk

Fri March 16, 2007
• Bulls Eye: Bradford v Harlequins
  

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