Round 14
Castleford Tigers 24 l. Bradford Bulls 46

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

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

Bradford too good for Castleford
Mon May 19, 2008
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Bradford Bulls ran out clear winners in an engage Super League match which was a lot closer than the score suggests.

The home side led 10-0 early on at the Jungle but four Bulls tries in the final eight minutes of the first half put the visitors in command.

And when Michael Platt, Ben Jeffries and Simon Finnigan all added efforts in the second half, the struggling Castleford Tigers never looked like coming back.

The home side opened the scoring as early as the third minute when 18-year-old teen sensation Joe Westerman broke the Bulls ranks and sent centre Michael Shenton over in the corner but Kirk Dixon missed the conversion.

Michael Wainwright had two tries disallowed, one of which saw the winger sprint the length of the field only to be called back by the match official.

But they did increase their lead in the 18th minute when full-back Ryan McGoldrick managed to get on the end of a clever grubber kick from Luke Dorn, with Dixon adding the two points.

Bradford responded when Jeffries, who was picked ahead of Iestyn Harris, cut the home defence open before sending Paul Sykes over to reduce the deficit. The usually reliable Paul Deacon missed what looked a simple conversion.

Jeffries almost had a try of his own shortly after but David Solomona's pass which released the stand-off was adjudged to have been forward.

Bradford pulled level in the 26th minute when incisive running and a cleverly timed pass from loose forward Sam Burgess gave Terry Newton the opportunity to score and he duly obliged with Deacon converting.

But Tigers put themselves back ahead on the half-hour mark with a moment of sheer brilliance from Westerman.

Dorn threw a long pass to the youngster, who dummeyed his way through a hole in Bradford's defence and sprinted home from distance - Dixon failed to convert.

Burgess piled over before the break with Deacon kicking the visitors into the lead in the 34th minute.

Second row Glenn Morrison helped himself to his sixth try of the season two minutes later following an intelligent kick from Jeffries and Jamie Langley added another with Deacon converting both.

The hosts put themselves back in the game in the 52nd minute after centre James Evans was sent to the sin bin for persistent offending.

Tigers threw the ball wide with Dorn and Stuart Donlan combining well in midfield before Wainwright touched down in the corner. Westerman then struck a fine conversion to move the Tigers to within 10 points of Bradford.

However, Bulls put the match beyond doubt with tries from Platt, Jeffries and Tadulala - Deacon converting all of them.

Dorn added a late consolation for Castleford but the engage Super League new-boys remain rooted to the foot of the table.

Report Source: www.superleague.co.uk


Bulls Eye: Bradford v Castleford
Fri May 16, 2008
Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

In Bulls Eye this week Bradford Coach Steve McNamara looks ahead to Sunday's engage Super League Round 14 game at the Jungle between the Castleford Tigers and Bradford Bulls.

STEVE McNAMARA
CASTLEFORD HAVE PLAYED VERY WELL AT TIMES THIS SEASON AND I KNOW YOU WERE IMPRESSED WITH HOW THEY DEFEATED LEEDS?
I think they have threatened on a lot of occasions to get their season going. They had a very small squad to start with and they have suffered some injuries, which has resulted in them having to bring in loan players ? they have one of ours at the moment ? and they were a little bit behind the eight ball, as it were, when they qualified for Super League. They were chasing players at a late stage and a lot of players were already signed up. Their big emphasis has been on bringing their Junior players through and getting them ready to play Super League and I think they have done a terrific job in that area. But they are also a very dangerous proposition because when you see the speed of such as McGoldrick, Dorn and Shenton and with Westerman doing some special things for them, then they can be a dangerous side, as they have shown.

YOU PLAYED WELL LAST WEEK?
We started very strong last week, which in those conditions we needed to do but against a very big Catalans side, big throughout the team, we looked very strong, so I was pleased with how we played. But as I said last week it is not my job to overreact to things and just as I don't get too reactive when we have a defeat then I don't get carried away when we have some success. But there were still some areas, individually, that needed improving because they weren't good enough, even in a performance like that.

THERE IS NO JOE VAGANA IN THE SQUAD THIS WEEK
It's a week too early for him. He needs an X-ray again next week. Once the X-Ray shows no break he is clear and he was X-rayed a week ago but it was still showing something. The specialist felt he needed another few days and he will train fully next week and have another X-ray in the middle of the week and hopefully he will get the green light to play.

Both Ben Jeffries and Jimmy Evans have trained fully this week but we will wait until the last minute to see if they have any reaction but if they don't then they will both play a part in this game. BJ is a smart player who is very quick and very smart and I feel he will grow with this organisation. It was difficult for him at the start - when he didn't get in the side straight away and then he got a settled spot but his injury set him back a bit but that is why we have a squad. We have had all of our halves injured at sometime and it has been important that we have had such depth in the squad but it would be nice to see everyone fit and ready to go. That would give me an opportunity to rest some players and keep everyone fresh.

SQUAD
Steve McNamara is welcomes back Ben Jeffries and James Evans and Craig Kopczak comes back into the squad. Shontayne Hape, knee and Wayne Godwin, groin strain are omitted.

The 19 man Squad is: Sam Burgess, Paul Sykes, Craig Kopczak, Glenn Morrison (c), James Evans, Dave Halley, Michael Platt, Chris Nero, Iestyn Harris, Ben Jeffries, Tame Tupou, Simon Finnigan, Andy Lynch, Semi Tadulala, David Solomona, Terry Newton, Matt James, Paul Deacon, Jamie Langley.

MILESTONES
PAUL DEACON, who has kicked 59 goals from 70 attempts this season for an average of 84.29%, needs only 6 points to reach a career total of 2,400. He has 76 tries, kicked 1034 gals and 22 Drop Goals in 322 games for the Bulls, Oldham Bears, Gt. Britain, England and Lancashire.

IESTYN HARRIS needs 2 Tries for a career total of 150. He has scored 148 Tries for Warrington, Leeds, Bradford, Gt. Britain, Wales and Gt. Britain Under 21's. He also needs 2 points for a total of 300 for the Bulls, having scored 33 tries, 82 goals and 2 drop goals in 120 appearances since joining them in July 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.

News Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

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