Round 20
Huddersfield Giants 25 d. Bradford Bulls 24

2008 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

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

Thorman lands late drop goal to sink Bulls
Tue July 8, 2008
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Huddersfield Giants captain Chris Thorman kicked an injury-time drop goal to earn his side a dramatic victory in a thrilling derby at the Galpharm Stadium.

Bradford Bulls stand-off Iestyn Harris kept his nerve to land a 79th-minute penalty which levelled the scores but Thorman broke the visitors' hearts with his last-gasp one-pointer which earned the Giants only their second win in five matches.

There was time for a controversial ending when the hooter sounded as Bradford were preparing for a scrum and centre Paul Sykes was shown the red card after the final whistle for protesting too strongly to referee Steve Ganson.

Ganson had earlier sent four players - two from either side - to the sin bin and placed three Bradford men on report but the abiding memory of an entertaining match will be its frantic finish in front of a 10,786 crowd, which was boosted by around 2,000 children taking part in the Kirklees youth games before kick-off.

Huddersfield trailed 22-12 after an hour but staged a thrilling revival in which Australian winger Rod Jensen scored his second try of the match to give his side renewed hope.

The Giants lacked five first-team regulars through injury, including Great Britain full-back David Hodgson, whose home debut was put on hold by a shoulder problem, but they were competitive throughout.

Full-back Michael Platt gave the Bulls the perfect start when he jinked his way over for a solo try on four minutes but the home side went in front two minutes later when Jensen intercepted Harris' pass to scoot 40 metres for his first two for two months.

Bradford hooker Terry Newton supported a break by Ben Jeffries to score a try and then missed a sitter by spilling Simon Finnigan's pass with the Huddersfield line once more wide open.

The home side paid a heavy price for their indiscipline at St Helens a week ago and they were reduced to 11 men for a short spell after full-back Leroy Cudjoe and hooker Ryan Hudson were both sin-binned for professional fouls.

The Bulls made their numerical advantage tell when prop Andy Lynch forced his way over for a third try on 27 minutes and Harris' second goal made it 16-6 but prop Paul Jackson gave Huddersfield renewed hope when he supported a break by lively substitute Danny Kirmond to grab a try just before the interval.

It was just the tonic for the Giants, who dominated play in the second half.

Second rower Andy Raleigh looked a certain scorer until former team-mate Chris Nero, making his comeback for the Bulls from a fractured collarbone, pulled off a superb last-ditch tackle inches short of the line.

Winger James Evans, another ex-Huddersfield player, was sin-binned for delaying the subsequent play-the-ball but Bradford extended their lead, albeit against the run of play, when Finnigan made the most of a kind bounce from Jeffries' kick to score their fourth try.

Jeffries became the fourth player to be yellow-carded on 52 minutes for dissent and Thorman marked his return from an ankle injury with a 65th-minute try that set up the exciting finish.

Darrell Griffin was inches away from touching down Thorman's kick to the line but Huddersfield eventually found their way to the line when Stephen Wild and Paul Whatuira combined to get Jensen over.

Thorman added the goal and, after Harris looked to have snatched a draw, came up with the precious one-pointer to finally settle it.

Report Source: www.superleague.co.uk


Bulls Eye: Bradford v Huddersfield
Sat July 5, 2008
Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

In this week's Bulls Eye Bradford Coach Steve McNamara looks forward to Sunday's engage Super League Round 20 clash at the Grattan Stadium when the Bulls travel to take on Huddersfield.

STEVE McNAMARA
TWO WINS ON THE BOUNCE MUST HAVE GIVEN YOU SOME CONFIDENCE?
It's nice to get the two wins and hopefully we can make it three on the trot because consistency breeds confidence and we need to show some of both as we get into the last eight rounds of the competition. There is a spring in the step of the players and I think the change in the weather helps that. The pitches are drier and the sun's out and it's a much better to play in conditions like that. The players are delighted with the last two wins but, as I have said before, we can't get too carried away just because we have won a couple. We need to keep our feet on the ground and we are looking forward to another game this week at Huddersfield.

WHAT SORT OF CHALLENGE WILL THE GIANTS PRESENT THIS WEEK BECAUSE THEY HAVE DEFINED HEAD COACH AT THE MOMENT?
They are but they will still be a massive challenge for us. The standard of the competition this year has a lot to do with where they are in the table rather than that they have been poor. That's just how it is and you are winning and losing games by only a couple of points at times and you can slide up and down the table week by week. I think they have got a hell of a lot about them both as a team and as a club. They have some really strong players, some good players and it's always a tough physical contest against them and they are a very aggressive group. They like to throw the ball about a bit and are certainly finding some pass plays at the moment. They have a couple of young coaches doing the job under different circumstances to normal.

It's going to be a big local derby and I know they have a lot of things going on pre match that will bring a lot of people into the stadium. It will be a big crowd and an atmosphere and a stadium we like to play in. I am sure Huddersfield are going to be tough and I think Paul Anderson will have them fired up. It's always a bit special when you Coach against your old side for the first time and it happened last week for Paul with Saints and it's happening again with us this week and I am sure he will doing his bets to get them ready for this game.

WHAT IS THE INJURY SITUATION THIS WEEK?
Well Shontayne finished last week but we have Chris Nero available this week. He is looking very good in training; very athletic and very strong and he will come back into the squad. Dave Halley, who didn't play last week, is also available and the 17 on duty last week got through without any problems. We are continuing to monitor Paul Deacon; he was very close to playing last week and we'll see how he goes in training today and tomorrow.

SQUAD
The Bulls bring back Chris Nero to the Squad after his recovery from a broken Collar Bone, sustained at Castleford on May 18th. He is a straight replacement for Shontayne Hape. Paul Deacon is also named in the squad.

The 19 man squad is: Sam Burgess, Paul Sykes, Wayne Godwin, Chris Feather, James Evans, Dave Halley, Michael Platt, Chris Nero, Iestyn Harris, Ben Jeffries, Semi Tadulala, Simon Finnigan, Andy Lynch, Matt Cook, David Solomona, Terry Newton, Joe Vagana, Paul Deacon, Jamie Langley.

MILESTONES
PAUL DEACON, who has kicked 66 goals from 78 attempts this season for an average of 84.62%, needs only four points for a Super League career total of 2,000 (not including play-offs). His 1,996 points have come from 64 tries and 879 goals, including 18 drop goals, in 254 rounds of Super League. All the points were scored for Bradford, but he also made two substitute appearances for Oldham without scoring. Only Andrew Farrell has scored more Super League points than Deacon, with a record 2,228 for Wigan Warriors from 1996 to 2004.

WAYNE GODWIN needs 8 points for a career total of 300. The Hooker has scored 33 tries and kicked 80 goals in his 155 appearances.

CHRIS FEATHER will make his 150th career appearance today. He has made 65 appearances for Wakefield Wildcats, 56 for Leeds Rhinos and 28 for Bradford Bulls.

News Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

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