Round 25
Bradford Bulls 42 d. Hull FC 14

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

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

Deacon inspires Bulls to victory over Hull FC
Mon August 18, 2008
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Paul Deacon inspired Bradford Bulls to a victory that is likely to secure their place in the engage Super League play-offs.

Deacon marked his return from a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined for nearly a month with a controlled display that included seven goals, one try and clever kicks that led to scores for James Evans and Matt Cook.

Wayne Godwin, Terry Newton, Joe Vagana and Ben Jeffries also crossed as Bradford cruised home against the Challenge Cup finalists.

The Bulls raced into a 12-0 lead before the visitors had managed to touch the ball and they never looked back.

Craig Hall's kick-off flew out on the full and Evans pounced on Deacon's grubber kick after only 78 seconds as the Bulls made a brilliant start.

It got even better for Steve McNamara's side two minutes later as Jeffries sliced through Hull FC's defence and fed Newton on his inside shoulder. The Bradford hooker managed to fend off Matt Sing on his way to the line.

The visitors gradually worked their way back into contention after Motu Tony marked his 100th Hull appearance with an opportunistic dart from dummy-half.

Both sides were reduced to 12 men when Semi Tadulala and Jamie Thackray were sin-binned following a fiery altercation and Hull took advantage of the extra space when Willie Manu and Hall set Sing clear on the right flank.

However, that was as good as it got for Richard Agar's side and they were simply blown away after the interval.

Godwin went over from close range within two minutes of the restart and Cook followed when Paul Sykes collected Deacon's clever chip kick.

Kirk Yeaman's second-half effort counted for little when Deacon stepped through Hull's defence midway through the second half before Vagana and Jeffries wrapped up a convincing win in the closing minutes.

Report Source: www.superleague.co.uk


Bulls Eye: Bradford v Hull FC
Sat August 16, 2008
Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

In this week's Bulls Eye, Bradford coach Steve McNamara looks forward to Sunday's Super League Round 25 clash at the Grattan Stadium when the Bulls take on Hull FC.

STEVE McNAMARA
YOU WATCHED HULL LAST WEEK AND THEY JUST LOST OUT TO HUDDERSFIELD. HOW DO YOU THINK THEY WENT?
They started very strong and looked like they were back in form. They had quality all over the park but I think they just lacked a little belief in themselves. They didn't have the ball for large parts of that game, which really hurt them and the Giants got the job done on them. I know they are really desperate to the get back into some form and we need to make sure they wait another week for that.

They are too good a side to finish at the bottom of the table but that's the scenario facing them if they keep losing games. They will want to avoid that at all costs and the fact that they have got a Challenge Cup Final shows you what a good side they are. You don't get that far if you are a poor side. They have some high quality personnel and they have a lot of personnel; they were able to leave out Wheeldon and Hall last week and they are a very dangerous side. It's getting very close now to the Final and I think they will be concerned, individually, with making sure they have a spot in the side for the Final and they will be desperate to get into some form. It should be a good game.

HOW HAS TRAINING GONE THIS WEEK?
It's gone very well. Having a couple of players back ? at this stage it looks like both Deacon and Solomona will be back ? certainly helps. The character of the side is very good at the moment. When there is criticism flying about you tend to batten down the hatches but the players here are a confident in their ability and know what we are trying to achieve here. Jason Crookes is back from his loan spell at Widnes and Richard Johnson keeps his place in the squad so we have some decisions to make.

YOU MUST HAVE BEEN PLEASED WITH THE WAY THE PLAYERS PLAYED AT HEADINGLEY LAST WEEK?
It was encouraging but we felt we should have won the game and we were very disappointed. There were come reasons as to why we didn't win but we can take a lot of heart from the way we played, particularly with the side we had at our disposal. We gave away a couple of penalties, which let them back into the game at the wrong end of the field and we had a couple of opportunities in their area which we didn't take and came up with some poor options.

WHAT WILL YOU HAVE TO DO BETTER THIS WEEK?
We will have to start strong, play strong, play physical, control the ball and do the basics right. If you do that you give yourself a chance and I am very confident that if we lay that strong platform we are capable of going on and winning the game.

SQUAD
Paul Deacon and Davis Solomona return to the Squad this week and there is a place for Centre Jason Crookes who has be recalled from his loan spell at Widnes. They replace Michael Platt, Jode Sheriffe and James Donaldson. Richard Johnson keeps his place in the squad.

The 19 man Squad is: Wayne Godwin, Craig Kopczak, Terry Newton, James Evans, Dave Halley, Jason Crookes, Chris Nero, Paul Sykes, Iestyn Harris, Ben Jeffries, Semi Tadulala, Simon Finnigan, Andy Lynch, Matt Cook, Paul Deacon, Joe Vagana, David Solomona, Jamie Langley, Richard Johnson.

MILESTONES
PAUL DEACON has kicked 74 goals from 87 attempts this season for an average of 85.06%.

WAYNE GODWIN needs 4 points for a career total of 300. The Hooker has scored 34 tries and kicked 80 goals in his 160 appearances.

SIMON FINNIGAN needs 4 points for a career total of 200. He has scored 49 tries in his 146 appearances.

News Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

Sat August 16, 2008
• Tickle to miss Bradford game
  

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