Burrow breaks Bradford hearts

Rob Burrow broke Bradford's hearts with a last-minute conversion to hand Leeds a 26-24 victory in an absorbing engage Super League derby thriller at Headingley Carnegie.

A Karl Pryce hat-trick looked to have secured the dogged Bulls a hard-earned success as they stormed 24-14 ahead on the hour mark.

But after Danny McGuire crossed the line with 10 minutes remaining, Scott Donald grabbed his second try of the game in the final minute to draw the scores level at 24-24.

And the final act was left to diminutive scrum-half Burrow, who converted Donald's touchdown from near the right touchline to send the majority of a packed crowd into ecstasy.

Leeds received a boost prior to kick-off when new signing Jamie Thackray was unveiled after signing on a three-year contract from Hull.

And the Rhinos seized the early advantage a sustained spell of early pressure culminated in Donald crossing in the right corner after five minutes.

Former Bulls skipper Jamie Peacock's brute strength and delightful handling skills took him deep into Bradford territory before he found McGuire with a delicate offload.

The Great Britain stand-off scampered out wide to the right and sent Donald racing clear on the overlap for his 14th try of the season.

However, the response from Bradford was impressive as they ran in two tries in four minutes to storm 12-4 ahead.

Their first score came after 13 minutes when exquisite offloads from Ben Harris and namesake Iestyn sent Pryce over in the left corner.

The Bulls continued to probe and, with Deacon and Iestyn Harris beginning to dovetail effectively at half-back, they soon edged further ahead.

This time they stretched Leeds out wide on the right when another fine array of inter-passing culminated in Mick Withers sending Marcus St Hilaire crashing over in the corner.

The pendulum swung back towards Leeds as the half wore on and it took a brilliant last-gasp tackle from Withers to halt Mark O'Neill after McGuire looked to have sent his team-mate over.

Yet the Bulls remained potent in attack and after a piece of quick thinking from Withers saw him send Pryce over straight from a scrum, the Bulls were well and truly in control.

Paul Deacon landed his third goal from as many attempts to send Bradford 18-4 ahead before Burrow's solo effort reduced the deficit to 18-8.

The Rhinos upped the tempo after the restart and after youngster Nick Scruton squeezed over the line on 45 minutes, Burrow's first successful goal attempt put Leeds within four points of their opponents.

However, Deacon converted a penalty four minutes later to give the Bulls a little breathing space at 20-14.

Bradford were forced to ride their luck soon after when Leeds wing Danny Williams crossed in the corner only to see his effort disallowed for an apparent forward pass.

But they were soon in dreamland when giant wing Pryce raced 40 metres to complete his hat-trick in spectacular fashion, though Deacon failed to convert.

And the Rhinos soon hit back and after Burrow converted a McGuire touchdown on 70 minutes, before Donald levelled in the right-hand corner in the final minute.

That allowed Burrow to have the final say, with his two-pointer securing a victory for Leeds which maintains the pressure on St Helens at the summit.

Leeds: Smith, Donald, Walker, Senior, Williams, McGuire, Burrow, Jones-Buchanan, Millard, Bailey, Peacock, Ellis, Sinfield.

Replacements: Lauitiiti, O'Neill, Scruton, Ablett.

Bradford: Withers, St Hilaire, Hape, B. Harris, Pryce, I. Harris, Deacon, Lynch, Newton, Meyers, McKenna, Ferres, Langley.

Replacements: Vagana, Henderson, Burgess, Smith.

Leeds (8) 26.

Tries: Donald 2, Burrow, Scruton, McGuire. Goals: Burrow 3.

Bradford (18) 24.

Tries: Pryce 3, St Hilaire. Goals: Deacon 4.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington)

Att: 17,700

Source: superleague.co.uk