Bulls' grand ambition survives final onslaught

St Helens 26 Bradford 28

Bradford booked their place in the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford in two weeks time but only after withstanding a fightback that was spectacular even by St Helens' standards.

Comfortably ahead at half-time, the Bulls were dragged back by three tries in nine minutes as Sean Long came on and inspired Saints.

With the margin cut to two points, the impetus was with the team that finished on top of Super League at the end of the regular season, but an acrobatic touchdown by Mike Forshaw gave Bradford the edge once more and, although Tony Stewart scored with three minutes to play, Paul Sculthorpe could not land the conversion that would have taken the game into extra time.

Saints had suffered a damaging blow immediately before the kick-off with Long twisting an ankle in the warm-up. He dropped back to the bench and Sean Hoppe came into the starting line-up.

Disrupted by the reshuffle, Saints were under pressure from the start and Bradford were denied a try only on video evidence when James Lowes sent Stuart Fielden through with the aid of an obstruction. There was no escape after 12 minutes, though, when Lowes got away from dummy-half and chipped over the defence for Paul Deacon to arrive with perfect timing for a try which he also converted.

Saints were making precious few chances, so they needed to take those they did produce, rather than knock-on with the line wide open as Chris Joynt did from Sculthorpe's pass.

Immediately afterwards, the Bulls went to the other end through Deacon's quickly taken tap penalty. He could not make it all the way to the try-line but set himself up for a kick to the corner, picked out of the air by Brandon Costin for another converted try.

Sculthorpe got one back for Saints with sheer determination powering him through the Bradford defensive line. It was only an interruption to the Bulls' dominance as two tries within four minutes close to half-time further strengthened their position.

Again it was the variety and precision of their kicking game that was responsible. Michael Withers slid the ball through perfectly for Lesley Vainikolo to win the race and then Deacon's equally well-judged kick saw Daniel Gartner touchdown with some ease, Deacon kicking his fourth goal to complete a 20-point half-time lead.

Long was brought on for the second half and within four minutes of the restart, he had created a try with a kick for Kieron Cunningham.

A quickly taken penalty then saw Long go over himself and when Robbie Paul fumbled a kick from Sculthorpe to allow Saints to set up Stewart for his first, the game was wide open.

Bradford ultimately showed the composure to hang on and, while they are having a week off, Saints must beat Wigan next week to set up a re-match in the grand final.

St Helens: Wellens; Alberts, Gleeson, Newlove, Stewart; Sculthorpe, Hoppe; Britt, Cunningham, Nickle, Joynt, Stankevitch, Shiels. Substitutes used: Higham, Ward, Jonkers, Long.

Bradford: Withers; McAvoy, Naylor, Costin, Vainikolo; Paul, Deacon; Vagana, Lowe, Fielden, Gartner, Peacock, Forshaw. Substitutes used: Christy, Anderson, McDermott, Gilmour,

Referee: R Connolly (Wigan).