ESL Round 12 Reviews (Sunday
games)

London 26 Bradford 41 and Hull 20 Salford 6

Bulls fight back for victory

Bradford Bulls staged a remarkable second-half fightback to run out 41-26 victors and send London Broncos spinning to their sixth successive engage Super League defeat.

The Bulls looked down and out at half-time when they trailed 18-0 but responded with seven tries after the break.

The Broncos hit the ground running and were rewarded after eight minutes when Robbie Paul?s grubber kick bounced off Luke Dorn?s shin into the arms of Paul Sykes.

The Broncos full-back then raced the length of the field to touch down a try that he converted himself.

The Broncos then held off the Bulls and extended their lead with a Sykes? penalty.

They then crossed for a second try five minutes later, Lee Hopkins taking Thomas Leuluai?s pass before touching down and Sykes converted.

The Broncos were rewarded further for their domination with Sykes sending Jon Wells into the corner for the third try seconds before the break.

The Bulls needed a good start to the second half after coach Brian Noble read the riot act during the break.

And they go what he wanted when Sykes put the kick-off into touch and Iestyn Harris powered across the line from close range.

The Broncos hit back immediately with Leuluai sending Tyrone Smith over the line despite the Bulls having a good case for claiming obstruction in the build-up.

The visitors refused to lie down though, and Harris applied the pass to send Stuart Reardon into the corner after 52 minutes.

They chipped further into the Broncos? lead after 58 minutes as Stuart Fielden, who was withdrawn after a poor start to the game, stormed back to form by touching down.

The Bulls were level after 64 minutes, Harris again with the pass but this time to Jamie Peacock. Paul Deacon added the goal.

The comeback was complete just minutes later when Rob Parker took Paul?s kick before offloading to Jamie Langley who put his side ahead.

Deacon then added a drop goal before late tries from Leon Pryce and Karl Pryce added icing on to the cake, only for Broncos to grab a last-minute consolation through Nick Bradley-Qalilawa.

London: Sykes, Wells, McLinden, O?Halloran, Bradley-Qalilawa, Dorn, Leuluai, Trindall, Highton, Lolohea, Hopkins, Purdham, Haumono. Replacements: Stephenson, Williams, Tookey, Smith. Bradford: L. Pryce, Pratt, Reardon, Langley, Vainikolo, Harris, Paul, Peacock, Deacon, Fielden, Meyers, Parker, Radford. Replacements: Vagana, Lynch, K. Pryce, Ferres.

London: (18) 26. Tries: Sykes, Hopkins, Wells, Smith, Bradley-Qalilawa. Goals: Sykes 3. Bradford: (0) 41. Tries: Harris, Reardon, Fielden, Peacock, Langley, L. Pryce, K. Pryce. Goals: Deacon 6. Drop Goals: Deacon.

Referee: Ronnie Laughton (Barnsley) Att: 3,879

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Hull clinch unconvincing win

A year after Hull beat the same opponents 82-6 and had some purring that they might be title contenders, John Kear?s men again took the points with a 20-6 victory.

But his side?s display did little to enhance their championship manifesto this time around. In the end Hull were indebted to the performances of Richard Whiting and Paul Cooke in particular, who grabbed hold of their ailing side and took them beyond the finish line.

Salford can feel unlucky to have come away empty-handed on the back of their first-half performance and had they have made more of their early dominance they may well have taken the spoils.

Cooke, after his terrific performance, may well be expecting a call from Brian Noble when the Great Britain training squad is announced later this week.

Hull welcomed illness victims Garreth Carvell and Chris Chester back onto their bench and employed Motu Tony at hooker instead of Danny Brough, who was also used as a substitute.

Paul King made his first start in seven months following a knee injury. Salford were missing influential centre Kevin McGuinness and drafted in Nathan McAvoy as cover.

The visitors started the brightest and were helped on their way by a flurry of handling errors by the home side, with King and Ewan Dowes making crucial mistakes early in the tackle count.

Hull?s defence, which coach Kear stated before the game needed to improve on recent performances, was breached after six minutes when Cliff Beverley opened the scoring.

The lively Luke Robinson?s pass sent Beverley into a gap and the stand-off used Robinson as a perfect foil as he arched his run and easily saw off the challenge of Shaun Briscoe to score to the left of the posts.

Chris Charles converted to hand Salford a six-point lead.

Hull initially offered little in response and were grateful to some sterling defensive work from Michael Eager to keep them in touch.

Robinson and skipper Malcolm Alker were a constant threat for the Reds, but with only centre Stuart Littler showing any sign of assisting them Hull were able to withstand the away side?s dominance, which saw them post five straight sets of six at one point.

The hosts eventually levelled the scores just before the 30-minute mark.

Whiting, who offered Hull?s greatest source of creativity all afternoon, fed Shayne McMenemy and his offload found Richard Horne.

The captain made a clean break and held on long enough to be able to find the supporting Briscoe who was given a clear run to the posts. Cooke added the goal to level the scores.

Cooke then hacked a Junior Langi knock-on towards the try line and won a race with the winger to collect the kick and feed Kirk Yeaman who dived over to hand Hull the lead.

Brough slotted the goal from out wide and Hull went into the interval with a flattering 12-6 lead.

Yeaman and Cooke were in tandem again soon after the restart to help extend Hull?s lead.

Brough?s excellent pass sent Yeaman into a gap and he was able to find the supporting Cooke on his outside, allowing the loose forward to cruise in under the posts. Brough goaled to increase the lead by a further six points.

Hull?s respect for their opponents was underlined when, after Andy Coley conceded a penalty on the last tackle for laying on, Horne instructed Brough to kick the goal. However his 30-metre effort rattled the woodwork.

Hull were roused in defence, with King and Jamie Thackray adding much needed steel and grit to the home side?s tackling, and although Robinson continued to hassle and hurry his way around the park, Salford seemed to have lost all their first-half invention.

Then after Tony drew a penalty for offside, Cooke succeeded where Brough had failed and slotted the goal, to extend the lead to 14 points.

Hull brought Brough back onto the field following another spell on the bench and his introduction added some spark to their play, although both sides seemed to be feeling the effects of such an intense first period.

Thackray nearly crowned the win with a 20-metre solo effort which saw him beat two Salford defenders only to be stopped just short of the line.

Hull: Briscoe, Blacklock, Yeaman, Eagar, Saxton, Whiting, R. Horne, Dowes, Tony, King, McMenemy, Kearney, Cooke. Replacements: Thackray, Chester, Carvell, Brough. Salford: Hodgson, Langi, Littler, McAvoy, Stewart, Beverley, Robinson, Stringer, Alker, Rutgerson, Coley, Sibbit, Charles. Replacements: Shipway, Haggerty, Dickens, D. Bamford.

Hull: (12) 20. Tries: Briscoe, Yeaman, Cooke. Goals: Cooke 2, Brough 2. Salford: (6) 6. Tries: Beverley. Goals: Charles.

Referee: Ian Smith (Oldham) Att: 8,929

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Thanks to http://www.superleague.co.uk for another excellent article.