Round 14
Huddersfield Giants 36 d. Bradford Bulls 12

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

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

Thorman dominates as Giants end 35-year Bradford drought
Sat May 19, 2007
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Huddersfield Giants ended their 35-year wait for a league win over Bradford Bulls and did it in style, running the depleted Bulls ragged to clinch a seventh successive victory that lifted them to fourth place in the engage Super League.

The Bulls were the only team the Giants had not defeated in engage Super League but that record was effectively over by half-time after a perfect first 40 minutes by Jon Sharp's in-form team.

Brimming with confidence after eight successive league and cup wins, Huddersfield established a commanding 24-0 lead at the break, largely through the boot of Brad Drew, whose skilful kicking set up tries for Stephen Wild and John Skandalis in the first quarter.

Bradford went into the game on the back of 27 successive league wins over Huddersfield going back to 1972, but with a side depleted by the loss of seven regulars through injury and suspension.

The Giants knew they would never have a better chance of ending their dismal run and they looked determined from the outset to seize their opportunity.

The Bulls thought they had scored after just 40 seconds when prop Andy Lynch went over from Ian Henderson's pass, but video referee Ben Thaler disallowed the try for a double movement.

Lesley Vainikolo - hoping to improve his remarkable scoring rate of 143 tries in 146 appearances before leaving for rugby union - was the obvious danger to the Giants defence, but he was directly responsible for them opening the scoring on 10 minutes.

He was first to Drew's grubber kick but spilled the ball and Wild followed up to touch down.

Then, 10 minutes later, the clever Drew was at it again, this time kicking ahead for Skandalis to take advantage of a kind bounce to record his first-ever Super League try.

Thorman kicked both conversions and added a penalty on 28 minutes to make it 14-0 as Bradford struggled in the blustery conditions to get out of their own half.

The Bulls, who gave a debut to 21-year-old scrum-half Richie Hawkyard and had three players with just one engage Super League start between them on the bench, made life difficult for themselves with a series of handling errors.

And it was no surprise when Huddersfield extended their lead six minutes before half-time with the best move of the match.

Towering forward Eorl Crabtree got the ball rolling with a superb offload and Thorman and Robbie Paul combined to get second rower Stuart Jones romping over.

Thorman kicked his fourth goal and then added a fourth try, snapping up a loose ball and handing off centre Ben Harris on a 60-metre sprint to the line.

Bradford had the wind at their backs as they attempted to launch a fightback and they opened their account just five minutes after the restart.

Second rower David Solomona, whose hands let him down in the first half, found his touch to send Vainikolo over for his 14th try of the season and the 144th of his Bradford career, which Iestyn Harris converted.

The Gloucester-bound winger was hurt in the tackle shortly afterwards, however, and limped off to be replaced by Dave Halley.

Huddersfield substitute Paul Jackson thought he had scored his first of the season when taking Paul's pass to go through a gap, but he had the misfortune to drop the ball over the line.

Then it was Solomona's turn to have a try disallowed, the video referee ruling he failed to ground the ball over the line.

Huddersfield finally secured the win when Brown opened the visitors' defence with a slick dummy and slid through for their fifth try, with Thorman kicking his fifth goal.

Wild then illustrated the Giants' desire and enthusiasm by racing back to deny Halley what looked like a certain try, but the home side were powerless to prevent Ben Harris grabbing a late consolation touchdown.

But Huddersfield had the final say when Ryan Hudson broke through and kicked ahead for Thorman to claim his second try of the match.

The skipper added the conversion to finish with a 20-point haul.

Huddersfield Giants (24) 36.
Tries: Thorman 2, Wild, Skandalis, Jones, Brown.
Goals: Thorman 6.

Bradford (0) 12.
Tries: Vainikolo, B. Harris.
Goals: I. Harris 2.

Huddersfield Giants: Thorman, Reilly, Lolesi, Nero, Aspinwall, Brown, Drew, Mason, Hudson, Skandalis, Jones, Raleigh, Wild.
Replacements: Paul, Crabtree, Jackson, Griffin.

Bradford Bulls: St Hilaire, McAvoy, B. Harris, Evans, Vainikolo, I. Harris, Hawkyard, Vagana, Henderson, Lynch, Morrison, Solomona, Burgess.
Replacements: McKenna, Kopczak, James, Halley.

Referee: Phil Bentham

Report source: www.superleague.co.uk

Article: Sharp hails Giants display


Bulls Eye: Bradford v Huddersfield
Fri May 18, 2007
Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

In this week's Bulls Eye, Bradford head coach Steve McNamara looks ahead to Friday's engage Super League Round 14 game at the Galpharm Stadium when the Giants host the Bradford Bulls.

STEVE McNAMARA
YOU HAVE A FEW INJURIES THIS WEEK?
Yes we have and we are not in a very healthy state at the moment. We have a fair few missing and it will give some others an opportunity and they'll certainly get that on Friday night. We have seen it before and they often come up trumps. Richie Hawkyard will definitely play. He is a part time player from the Huddersfield area and he has had to have a day off work to come in and train. He showed this morning in practice that he will do a good job for us.

I am not scared to use youngsters at all but this week my hand has been forced. It's a big opportunity for them to show me, the club and the Rugby League world watching on SKY exactly what they are capable of. There will be four or five out there and they will do the job. The senior players know they have to step up and lead and they have already talked about it and the youngsters will bring bags of enthusiasm.

HUDDERSFIELD ARE FLYING AT THE MOMENT?
They have been in good form and won a lot of games on the bounce but every time you win a game you are closer to a loss and hopefully their first loss for a while will come on Friday against us.

We are expecting a physical game from them. I think they made a conscious effort to put some size on in the off season and I think it probably took some time for them to adjust to that. But they have certainly adjusted to it now and have been very physical against the other sides and they will be against us.

SQUAD
Steve McNamara will give a debut to 20 year old half back Richie Hawkyard who is from the Huddersfield area and 17 year old Jason Crookes, also from Huddersfield, is in the squad for the game

The 18-man Squad is: I Harris, St Hilaire, McAvoy, Evans, Vagana, Henderson, Solomona, Vainikolo, McKenna, Burgess, B Harris, Halley, Lynch, Morrison, Kopczak, Crookes, James, Hawkyard

MILESTONES
LESLEY VAINIKOLO has scored 143 tries in 146 games.

MARCUS St HILAIRE needs 1 try for a century of touchdowns in his career.

News sent by: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

Fri May 18, 2007
• Reilly and St Hilaire spice up Giant West Yorkshire derby
  
Thu May 17, 2007
• Friday Sky Sports: Huddersfield v Bradford
  

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