Workington Town push full-time Bradford Bulls all the way

The Bulls scraped home with a 29-22 victory at the Zebra Claims Stadium but they certainly knew they had been in a game.

It was a shame that key refereeing decisions had a big say on the outcome of the game in the final stages.

Town coach Phil Veivers was devastated at the final whistle as he felt his team had done enough to win the game.

And, in truth they had, as across the board they caused problems for the full-time Bulls.

Jarrod Sammut put in a masterful performance at half-back with Jason Mossop also superb, especially in defence.

Ryan Verlinden had his best game in the blue and white of Workington with plenty of support in the pack and in the backs, with mention for young Tee Ritson, who put in some great attacking runs inside his own half.

Bradford got the first points on the board when Adam O’Brien twisted his way out of the tackle to touch down from short range, with Danny Addy adding the goal.

But Town were back on equal terms two minutes later as Jay Pitts threw a stray pass out wide and it came loose.

Jarrod Sammut was on hand to pick it up and he raced 50 metres to touch down under the posts and added his own extras.

Town had their chances as they were powering forward into the Bulls half but they could not find the final pass.

And it was Bradford who stepped up and began to pile on the pressure. They got their reward as O’Brien slipped the pass in to Ethan Ryan and he crossed the line with Addy putting over the extras.

Addy then put in a lovely 40/20 kick to keep the pressure on as Bradford got the scrum just short of the line.

Some desperate defence was keeping the Bulls out but then Town conceded a penalty and handed their opponents another set of six.

Then, on the final tackle, a familiar face to the Town fans, Adam Sidlow, crashed over the try line leaving Addy a simple conversion near the posts.

Jack Murphy took a great high ball to defuse another Bradford attack but they managed to pin the full-back behind his own line.

And Town breathed a sigh of relief when an unusual error from the Bulls saw them knock on.

Town tried to strike back at the heart of the Bradford defence with some good running from the forwards.

Marc Shackley was halted just short of the line on the fifth tackle and then Bradford knocked the ball out of his hands to hand the home side another set of six.

With just two minutes to go, Town clinched an all-important try.

They flung the ball out to the left hand side and Jack Murphy chose to cut out the man and feed Sam Forrester, the sharp winger diving over in the corner.

Sammut’s conversion went just across the posts as the half time hooter sounded with Bradford just ahead at 18-10.

Into the second half and Town were forced on to the back foot early on but some superb defending kept Bradford at bay, Sammut making a couple of crucial stops.

The two sides traded errors with the ball before Ryan Verlinden boosted the Town side with a superb strong run upfield.

Gee then took it on before a Pitts high tackle halted Sammut in his tracks and Town got the penalty.

Declan Hulme went close and as Town tried to whip the ball out wide a Bradford hand just halted the flow.

Town kept up the momentum and were justly rewarded as Sammut stepped and burrowed his way through a sea of defenders to score and he added the extras.

Town’s backs stepped up to the plate to take the heat off their pack with great runs from Ritson, Mossop, Forrester and Hulme.

And a neat kick from Forber sailed into touch to pin the Bulls back on their own line.

Town were looking dangerous and they took the lead for the first time on 53 minutes.

It was a great try with some lovely passing along the line to Declan Hulme who strode in at the corner. Sammut had his kicking boots on and added a great conversion from the touchline to edge 22-18 ahead.

As expected Bradford did not lie down as they went all out to impress new coach Rohan Smith.

It looked as though sub Paul Clough had drawn them level when he stretched out an arm to touch down beside the post but referee Andy Sweet had already called the tackle and it was denied.

But minutes later Town were penalised and Bradford took full advantage of the field position to let James Clare stroll in on the right hand edge from a pass from Ross Oakes.

But crucially the conversion was missed by the usually reliable Addy and the game sat all square at 22-22.

Mitchell Clark knocked on with the line at his mercy as both sides looked for that next crucial score.

Sammut put in a kick to touch on the last and it caught the hand of Clare to give the home side a set encamped on the Bradford line.

Then the kick on the last tackle was gratefully dropped on by Addy just in play to keep Town at bay.

But then two crucial refereeing decisions affected the course of the match in the final 10 minutes.

First Town were penalised in the centre of the field for a knock-on which was fiercely contested by the players as it appeared to go behind them.

And then it looked as though the Bradford player did not play the ball just short of the Town line.

And from the resulting attack, Lewis Charnock, on loan from St Helens, touched down much to the disgust of the home faithful.

Addy tagged on the extras and then minutes later positioned himself to add a drop-goal which sealed the game for the Bulls.

Town did not give in and were attacking the Bradford line as the hooter sounded but despite one of the best performances of the season, they still came away empty handed.

Workington Town: Murphy, Forrester, Hulme, Mossop, Ritson, Doran, Sammut, Coward, C Phillips, Gordon, McAvoy, Gee, Mattinson. Subs (all used): Forber, Scholey, Shackley, Verlinden

Tries: Sammut (2), Forrester, Hulme; Goals: Sammut 3/4

Bradford: Moss, Ryan, Welham, Oakes, Clare, Addy, Charnock, Clark, O'Brien, Sidlow, Mellor, Ferguson, Pitts. Subs (all used): Lumb, Clough, Lauaki, Haggerty

Tries: O'Brien, Ryan, Sidlow, Clare, Charnock; Goals: Addy 4/5; Drop-goal: Addy

Referee: Andy Sweet

Crowd: 723