Rugby League: Killer blow by Sharks

Cronulla Sharks 40 Bradford Bulls 1

Bradford realised their fate early against Cronulla yesterday when after three minutes Chris McKenna finished off a silky backline move to score the first try for the Sharks.

Matt Rogers landed a touch-line conversion to give his side a 6-0 lead and from then on it was the same old story for an English side in the World Club Championship - Bradford playing catch-up against an Australian side who were just too fast and too strong.

Within seven minutes the hosts had doubled their advantage when the centre Russell Richardson raced around Graham Bradley with ease before drawing the full-back Stuart Spruce and off-loading to Brett Howland to go over for the try.

Bradford then had to withstand no fewer than 20 tackles by way of three drop-outs and the tired defence finally caved in when Tawera Nikau went through a feeble Spruce tackle to score in the 23rd minute.

Four minutes later Paul Green beat Robbie Paul before throwing a well- timed inside pass to Andrew Ettingshausen who raced under the posts. Rogers collected the two points to give the Sharks a 24-0 lead at the break. The Bulls refused to give up and were rewarded when Bradley found a gap from close-range to score in the 49th minute. Steve McNamara added the conversion.

Ten minutes later, Bradley was at it again when he received a Paul pass to brush off two defenders on his way to the try line to give Bradford a sniff of victory at 24-12 with 20 minutes to go.

But Cronulla hit back immediately when Adam Dykes scrambled over for a try. Late tries from Richardson and Rogers ensured that Bradford must rely on Warrington, Halifax and St Helens all to lose to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Cronulla: Howland, Rogers, Ettingshausen, Richardson, Bell, Healey, Green, Lee, Dykes, Stevens, Davidson, McKenna, Nikau. Substitutes: Greenhill, Fisher, Ryan, Lang.

Bradford: Spruce, Graham, Peacock, Bradley, Calland, Paul, Tomlinson, Reihana, Dwyer, McDermott, Donougher, Forshaw, McNamara. Substitutes: Wittenberg, Jowitt, Loughlin, Knox.

Referee: B Grant (Australia).