Each day whilst we are all in Lockdown we will recall a famous Saints moment from the current day thanks to Saints Heritage Society.
4 JUNE 2005
Super League round 16: Bradford Bulls 4-66 St. Helens at Odsal Stadium.
St Helens gained emphatic revenge for the two beatings we suffered at Bradford last season, after the 28th-minute dismissal of the Bulls and future Saint, Leon Pryce helped our cause.
Saints were leading only 12-4 when Pryce was shown the red card by the young referee Ronnie Laughton for a nasty high tackle on his Australian opposite number Jamie Lyon. But the gulf in class between the teams was already apparent and Saints proved that point by scoring three of their 12 tries either side of half-time when they had also been reduced to 12 men by the sin-binning of Willie Talau.
The St.Helens supporters who reacted angrily when Ian Millward was sacked the month before but were not complaining now after his successor Daniel Anderson followed a home win against Leeds in his first match in charge with this performance, as exhilarating as anything produced in Millward’s five years as coach.
Ironically at the same venue last Easter Millward selected a team of youngsters to be thrashed 54-8 at Odsal but with Long captaining the Saints this time around in the absence of the injured Paul Sculthorpe, as he had in a 64-24 defeat in the first game, and picked up where he left off against Leeds last week with a classy, composed performance.
But even in such a superb team display Jamie Lyon stood out. The 23-year-old from Wee Waa, who became the youngest ever Kangaroo tourist in 2001, cut Bradford’s left-wing defence to shreds to lay on tries for Long and one of two for Jon Wilkin, in addition to scoring a couple himself. Vinnie Anderson (pictured) completed a hat-trick with a length-of-the-field kick return in the 75th minute, adding insult to Bradford’s injury.
James Roby, the former Bulls second-row Lee Gilmour and Ade Gardner, with two, were the other scorers in a record win for Saints against Bradford and one of the Yorkshire club’s heaviest-ever defeats.
Bradford Bulls: Paul; Reardon, Harris, L Pryce, K Pryce; Harris, Deacon; Lynch, Pratt, Fielden, Peacock, Meyers, Radford.
Substitutes: Vagana, Cook, Ferres, Parker.
St Helens: Wellens; Albert, Lyon, Talau, Gardner; Hooper, Long; P Anderson, Cunningham, Fozzard, Wilkin, Gilmour, V Anderson.
Substitutes: Edmondson, Graham, Roby, Fa’asavalu.
Referee: R Laughton (Barnsley).
