Round 5: Bradford Bulls v Salford City Reds

[DIEHARD]

Bradford Bulls v Salford City Reds
Sunday 11th March, kick-off 3pm

http://forums.rleague.com/images/avatars/uk/bradford.gif V http://forums.rleague.com/images/avatars/uk/salford.gif

Bradford Bulls 20-man squad: Morrison, Burgess, McKenna, Cook, I. Harris, McAvoy, Evans, St Hilaire, B. Harris, Langley, Kopczak, Feather, Deacon, Vagana, Vainikolo, Hape, Solomona, Platt, Lynch, Henderson.

Salford City Reds 20-man squad: Hodgson, McGuinness, Wilshere, Dorn, Robinson, Coley, Alker, Korkidas, Edmondson, Finnigan, Viane, Brocklehurst, Haggerty, Adamson, Littler, Gower, Halliwell, Turner, Jewitt, Williams.

Referee: B Thaler

[DIEHARD]

Hooker Ian Henderson is set to start his first match for Bradford Bulls since August following the loss of Terry Newton through suspension.

Forward Craig Kopczak is also added to Steve McNamara?s otherwise full-strength squad.

Salford City Reds are set to be unchanged, although former Leigh and Castleford centre Gray Viane has been included in coach Karl Harrison?s initial squad.

Prop Paul Highton, full-back Karl Fitzpatrick, centre Aaron Moule and second rower Ian Sibbit remain on the sidelines.

Source: http://www.SuperLeague.co.uk

[DIEHARD]

Bradford 56-18 Salford


Bradford: (22) 56
Tries: Platt 3, Solomona, Hape 2, St Hilaire, Henderson, McKenna 2
Goals: Deacon 8

Salford: (12) 18
Tries: Coley, Dorn, Penalty
Goals: Wilshere 3

Michael Platt scored his second hat-trick of the season as the Bulls ran in 10 tries to beat Salford.

The Bulls raced into an 18-0 lead after 15 minutes with tries from Platt, David Solomona and Shontayne Hape, all converted by Paul Deacon.

Andy Coley and Luke Dorn gave their side some hope but Salford struggled to match the physical Bulls.

The Bulls managed six second-half tries, with Platt completing his hat-trick with 10 minutes left.

Iestyn Harris sent Hape over for his second try of the game just after the interval while Sam Burgess combined with Andy Lynch to allow Ian Henderson cap a fine display with a clever try.

Harris' distribution skills were too good for the Reds and he sent Platt over for his second before offloading perfectly to Chris McKenna as Salford's defence continued to tire.

McKenna registered his second in the closing stages while a penalty try in the final seconds was the Reds' only second-half score.
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Bradford coach Steve McNamara
"I'm very pleased. We were pretty hurt last week and we needed to bounce back.

"It's been a trait of Bradford sides in the past that when they've been hurt they respond well, and that's what happened after last week's result at St Helens.

"Defensively we worked very hard and did a lot of good work.Salford have caught us on a hot day, but they'll come back."

Salford coach Karl Harrison
"The best team won. We just never got started and I thought it was a poor performance.

"Some of the tries Bradford scored today were unacceptable, but we've got a short turnaround so we've got to get on with it.

"Defensively, I thought we were all over the place. You can't defend for long periods against a quality team like Bradford - they will finish you."

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Bradford: Platt, St Hilaire, B Harris, Hape, Vainikolo, I Harris, Deacon, Vagana, Henderson, Lynch, Solomona, Morrison, Langley.
Replacements: McKenna, Burgess, Feather, McAvoy.

Salford: Hodgson, Williams, Littler, McGuinness, Wilshere, Dorn, Robinson, Coley, Alker, Korkidas, Adamson, Edmondson, Finnigan.
Replacements: Haggerty, Gower, Halliwell, Jewitt.

Referee: Ben Thaler (Wakefield)

Source: http://www.BBC.co.uk