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Bradford 24  Salford 38                                 Match Report – David Clegg

Victories over in Yorkshire are far from easy to come by, and in recent years have been notable by their scarcity, so to have followed up last week’s success in the Challenge Cup with this league win at Bradford is praiseworthy in itself.  That the Red Devils produced arguably their best forty minutes of the season  so far in Friday’s first half was more than a little encouraging, and the players have shown evidence of improvement now over three or four matches.

Yes, Bradford were a mere shadow of the former great sides, following upon their off-field problems, and yes, it was a game from which we all expected a win.  So, however, did the Bulls, and all the talk, prior to the kick off, was of their absolute need to do so.  Indeed they had targeted this fixture as the one from which they would expunge the remainder of their points’ deficit.  That they failed to do so was, afterwards, a big blow to them, and it showed.

So, congratulations to the Salford on getting off to a great start and remaining focused and unruffled, when the going got a little tougher in the second half.  It was that first half performance, though, which was to be the ultimate determining period, as the Devils gat off to the best possible start on only the fourth minute, when Gareth Hock raced onto a deft Rangi Chase pass to skittle the Bradford defenders before handing on to the supporting Jake Mullaney for the opening try, and although the Bulls tony_puletuabriefly led, 6-4, for a five minute spell, midway through the half, Salford took complete control of the game for the last 16 minutes to lead 6-22 at half time.

The platform was laid by the Salford pack, with Tony Puletua (right) playing by far his best game for the Devils, Gareth Hock’s powerhouse running, and skipper Adrian Morley, as always, the model of endeavour.  Loan interchange-hooker, Logan Tomkins, certainly sparked up play around the play the ball over the quite lengthy number of minutes he provided on the field.

Back to form, Tim Smith was inspirational throughout, organising and instigating the attack, and providing space aplenty for half back partner, Rangi chase to exploit.  In fact, the two halves really gelled well on this occasion, which meant that the Bradford defence was opened up with an ease we have not really seen previously, probably from an attack increasingly based upon expansive, entertaining rugby.

A Bradford error in their won half in the first tackle of a set gave Salford the position for a quick play-the-ball close to their line, on 24 mins, and Junior Sa’u collected a pass down the blindside, with enough space to force his way through and restore Salford’s lead, with Mullaney’s conversion taking it to 6-10.

matty_ashurstNine minutes later a Salford penalty saw the ball moved so effectively along the line that when it came to Tim Smith he had the skill and space to exploit it and score to the right of the posts.

The most remarkable try of the game came three minutes from half time.  Matty Ashurst (left) took a Salford end-of-set kick, at speed, in the Bulls’ in goal area, but had enough agility to be able to catch the ball and complete an emergency stop before grounding  it inches before the dead ball line.  Mullaney was successful with both conversions.

Possession in the second half was much more evenly shared, as consequently was the scoring.  Whilst Iestyn Harris, in his first match as Head Coach, will have been pleased with much of what he saw in the first half, I am sure he will have been disappointed with some rather laxed defence which allowed the Bulls back into the contest.  The first came as early as the forty second minute, when lost possession allowed Bradford to counter attack, and former Salford forward, Adam Sidlow charged through for a score by posts, 12-22.

This score gave the Bulls’ considerable heart, and tit-for-tat scoring, thereafter, gave the final score Bradford a somewhat flattering impression.   Tries from Tony Puletua, following a scoot from Logan Tomkins, an individual try as per usual from Rangi chase, and Meli’s last gasp effort on seventy eight minutes, not dissimilar to his rather more crucial try the week before at Hull, completed the Salford scoring.   Fullback, Jake Mullaney, was successful with five of his seven conversion attempts.

Bradford Scorers:

Tries – Purtell, Sidlow, Kear, Henry

Goals – Foster (4)