Quarter Finals
Bradford Bulls 52 d. Huddersfield Giants 20

2007 Challenge Cup Index [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: Challenge Cup

Bradford ruthlessly brush aside Huddersfield
Mon June 11, 2007
Source: www.therfl.co.uk

Bradford Bulls discovered a ruthless streak to brush aside a disappointing Huddersfield Giants in a one-sided Carnegie Challenge Cup quarter-final at Odsal.

Former Huddersfield winger Marcus St Hilaire scored the 100th try of his career, which included an appearance for Leeds in the last Wembley final in 1999, as the Bulls cruised into the last four.

Bradford ran in nine tries in all, two of them through debutant winger Tame Tupou, as they condemned the out-of-sorts Giants to their heaviest defeat of the season.

Three tries in a five-minute spell late in the game enabled Huddersfield to save some face after they trailed 46-4 but the truth is they were embarrassed by the scale of the defeat.

They had not lost by more than eight points in any of their previous 18 league and cup matches this year but their defence had no answer to the devastating running of second-row pair David Solomona and Glenn Morrison or the brilliant tactical kicking of man of the match Paul Deacon.

Bradford's victory was all the more impressive due to the restricted appearance of stand-off Iestyn Harris, who was helped off after 17 minutes when his left knee dramatically gave way as he attempted to change direction.

They never looked back after taking the lead with a fourth-minute try from Ben Harris, who took a perfectly-timed pass from Morrison to touch down.

Deacon hit an upright with the conversion attempt but he made amends shortly afterwards with a penalty and went on to kick eight goals from 10 attempts.

Deacon's expert tactical kicking kept Huddersfield pinned back in their own half for long periods and a string of penalties against the visitors added to the one-sided nature of the first half.

The Giants were temporarily reduced to 12 men on 12 minutes when centre Jamahl Lolesi was sin-binned and placed on report for a high and late challenge on Deacon and the Bulls immediately took advantage, with Solomona bumping off three defenders to score a solo try.

Bradford were on top in all departments and even the loss of Iestyn Harris failed to disrupt their rhythm.

Substitute hooker Ian Henderson forced his way over from dummy half for a third try on 27 minutes and, although stand-off Kevin Brown put Chris Nero through a gap three minutes later to open Huddersfield's account, it was strictly against the run of play.

The Bulls extended their lead just before half-time when Deacon kicked straight from a scrum inside his own half for St Hilaire to chase and he gathered cleanly to go over for his landmark try.

Deacon then came up with a 40-20 kick to set up the first try of the second half, young prop Sam Burgess taking Henderson's offload to touch down.

Ben Harris then twisted out of Paul Reilly's tackle to grab his second try and Tupou, the man signed to fill the boots of Lesley Vainikolo, took a pass from St Hilaire to score what Bradford fans hope will be the first of many tries for the club.

Full-back Michael Platt sent hooker Terry Newton away for Bradford's eighth try but Huddersfield gained some consolation with three long-range scores in the last 11 minutes.

Lolesi went 80 metres for a solo score, former Bradford favourite Robbie Paul supported a break from winger Martin Aspinwall to touch down and hooker Ryan Hudson finished off a break by Reilly.

Brad Drew, who took over the goalkicking with Chris Thorman sidelined through injury, kicked two of the conversions to add a touch of respectability to the scoreboard but Tupou collected Deacon's high kick in injury time to register the game's 13th and final try.

Bradford (24) 52
Tries: Tupou 2, B Harris 2, St Hilaire, Newton, Burgess, Solomona, Henderson
Goals: Deacon 8

Huddersfield (4) 20
Tries: Nero, Paul, Hudson, Lolesi
Goals: Drew 2

Crowd: 7,811

Report source: www.therfl.co.uk

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