Match Report

Bradford Bulls 14 Leeds Rhinos 30

Friday 23rd May 2008, Grattan Stadium, Odsal

Two pieces of typical Rhinos magic produced tries part way through the second half, to secure not just a win, but a hatrick over local rivals, the Bradford Bulls.

The Bulls had problems when they lost both their half-backs Harris and Deacon through injury in training. For Leeds, Smith and Worral were left out and Anselme was back in France playing in the cup final clash with Albi. 

Bradford gained the upper hand straight from the kick off when the ball bounced awkwardly over Scott Donald, going dead and resulting in a drop out from under the sticks. But luckily, only on the second play the ball, the home side knocked on, giving Leeds the ball at the scrum.

However, for the next 15 minutes, Bradford were lodged in Leeds' half. So it was no surprise that on 14, they were the side to put the first points on the board. On 5 minutes, Newton forced his way towards to post, twisted and tried to ground the ball, the video ref ruled that he had lost the ball. Scrum to Leeds.

Just before the 15 minute mark, a short ball from Newton to Solomona allowed him to crash over the line, even though McGuire, Sinfield and Scruton were there to stop him. Sykes failed to convert but the Bulls were in the lead, 4-0.

Then, only 6 minutes later, a superb cross kick, from Jeffries found Halley, on the right wing. He was bound to score with only Rob Burrow to beat. Sykes missed again to make the score 8-0 to Bradford

From the kick off, a flowing move by Bradford looked like it was going to result in a try, but Phil Bentham called the action back for a forward pass on their 40 metre line. 

From that set, the Rhinos moved the ball to the left, with Scott Donald and Keith Senior making good metres. A magic McGuire move started on Bradford's 20 metre line. His weaving run evaded the Bradford defence, and he touched down in the corner, carefully positioning himself so he was not to go into touch. Bentham went to the screen, and after checking if his arm hit the deck before the line, he gave the try, ruling that momentum took him over the whitewash. As now expected of Sinfield, he added the extra two to get Leeds back in the game, 8-6.

3 minutes before the break, the dancing feet of McGuire almost led to a line break, but it was not to be. Later on in that set, Leeds were on the half way line on the 4th tackle, Sinfield plays a flat pass to Senior, who bursts through a gap in the Bradford line, only to pass to Burrow who has the confidence and speed to run the remaining 20 metres. Sinfield converts again and the Rhinos claim the lead, 8-12. 

And that was the first half. Early in the second half, on 54 minutes, the Rhinos defence expected a pass to Solomona, but the ball cut him out and found Tupou on the left wing. He touched down in the corner, getting passed Ryan Hall, who was out of position. Paul Sykes converted for the first time in 6 years. Bradford 14, Leeds 12.

On 59, Tupou had a similar attempt ruled out for an arm out of play. Two minutes later, a fantastic offload by Gareth Ellis to Superman (Brent Webb) who scampered around, started a move involving McGuire, Sinfield and finally Ali Lauitiiti, who went over the line. Sinfield found his boot to make the score 14-18.

From the kick off, the Rhinos pushed forward, Leuluai making good metres, then offloading to Tansey, who broke the Bulls line with McGuire and Webb in support. He went right to McGuire, who passed it back to Tansey, who then passed it left to Webb, who then trotted in under the post. Sinfield converted once more to give Leeds a more comfortable lead, although it was still only two converted tries away. 14-24 - that try silenced the Bradford crowd who hardly turned out in force, bringing only 14,000 supporters, a large majority of which were from Leeds!

In the final 10 minutes, Bradford exerted pressure on the Leeds line, forcing a goal-line dropout. From the following play, Tupou went over in the corner again, but the video ref ruled he was short. 

With only 2 minutes on the clock, Brent Webb and Rob Burrow combined to give Senior the chance to score a classic centre's try. Sinfield kept up his 100% record to give the Rhinos the final score of 30-14.

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