St Helens 33, Bradford Bulls 25; Match Report by Nigel Askham.

Saints stole a march in the jockeying for play-off positions but the Bulls gave ample notice they will not give up their title without a fight.

Barring some pretty strange happenings these two old foes will meet again in the elimination semi-final in October and it promises to be a real thriller if this superb tussle is a guide.

But one lesson the Bulls will take into their next encounter will be the need to be on their mettle from the off.

For the second week in succession they were strangely off the pace in the opening moments and this time it was Keiron Cunningham who took full advantage.

The Bulls made a real hash of attempting to collect Tommy Martyn's kick-off with Stuart Spruce getting his feet in a tangle and within 80 seconds Cunningham was bullocking his way over.

It was a virtual action replay minutes later as the stocky hooker capitalised on storming runs from Paul Atcheson and Julian O'Neill and a noisy Bulls following were stunned into silence for a spell.

The champions at last got a foothold in the game with Steve McNamara's grubber kick bouncing somewhat kindly for Tevita Vaikona to plunge over but the Bulls were still chasing shadows in defence as Saints' extra zip took its toll.

Martyn emphasised their superiority when he slipped over mid-way through the half and with Odsal old boy Paul Newlove giving a badly out-of-sorts Matt Calland the runaround more points never looked far away.

One such break saw Anthony Sullivan ankle tapped just short but when Spruce got back to complete the tackle his momentum took the Welsh flier over the try line.

Another score at that stage could have really ended it as a contest but to their credit the Bulls took advantage of the double movement verdict from the video referee to launch a stirring fightback.

A try just before the break provided the platform with the ever influential McNamara firing out a telling pass, which just eluded Sullivan, allowing Vaikona his fourth try in two games.

And they kept Saints on the back foot on the re-start with Paul Deacon recovering from a knock to a delicate spot to play a key role in a move which ended with skipper Graeme Bradley taking Mike Forshaw's neat pass and brushing off Damien Smith to score.

The sides exchanged penalties to bring it level at 20-20 before McNamara edged the Bulls ahead with a drop goal.

But despite some wholehearted effort they were not quite able to show the same sort of control again and, not for the first time against Saints, the bomb proved their downfall.

Constant menace Long provided the kick and Jon Scales - a target for the bomb all evening - dropped the ball under Damien Smith's challenge allowing Atcheson to pick up and plunge over.

But it was still anyone's game and Deacon, from McNamara's grubber, and Bradley, hauled down by a great cover tackle from Paul Sculthorpe, both tested Saints to the limit.

Stuart Cummings failure to use the advantage law when Jimmy Lowes had the ball pinched denied Robbie Paul a great opportunity but it was left to Long to finally settle a great tussle.

His speed off the mark from 25 metres out left Spruce and Brian McDermott clutching thin air and highlighted the difference between the sides - pace around the field.

There was much to admire in the Bulls work after their sluggish start but they'll have to come up with something special to slow down their opponents come semi-final time.

Newlove, Sullivan, Chris Smith and Long in particular were a real handful and they could so easily have been out of sight with steadier finishing.

But probably the most pleasing factor for the Bulls camp is that the fighting spirit and team work seems to be returning just in time for the business end of the season.

The pack gave them plenty of go forward too with McDermott and Stuart Fielden both impressing off the bench and Forshaw, McNamara and Lowes also making big contributions.

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