Bradford weave magic spell

Bradford Bulls and Harlequins hit the high notes when Super League’s annual roadshow visited Scotland for the first time for a seven-match festival at Murrayfield.
Nine years after their Challenge Cup final defeat of Leeds at the same venue, Bradford completed a stirring 32-16 victory over Wakefield Trinity after Harlequins had beaten Salford City Reds 24-16 on the opening day of Magic Weekend.
After two years at the Millennium stadium in Cardiff, the event was switched to Edinburgh once the Scotland RU and the Scottish tourist board made the Rugby Football League a financial offer they couldn’t refuse. The 55,000 fans who headed north were expected to generate £10m for the local economy and created a carnival atmosphere in and around Murrayfield.
The 67,800-capacity stadium was almost half full for the West Yorkshire derby between Wakefield Trinity and Bradford. The Bulls have made their worst start to a Super League season, losing six of their opening 10 matches. However two of their wins came against Leeds and St Helens, victories which suggest it would be unwise to write them off.
Bradford dominated the opening period but were forced into a desperate rearguard action following the resumption when Wakefield staged a spirited fightback from being 20-6 down.
The Bulls made a flying start with the first of two tries scored before the interval by Paul Sykes, who breezed through on the right from a sweet pass by Ben Jeffries. Jeffries, the former Wakefield stand-off, also worked the move that led to Sykes claiming his second after Terry Newton had extended Bradford’s advantage and featured in the sequence that brought the try of the match on 35 minutes.
The try was scored by Steve Menzies, who tumbled over the line between the posts after Jeffries acted as the link man in a surging 50m break by winger Rikki Sheriffe.
Wakefield, who had kept in touch with a converted try by their captain Jason Demetriou, rallied in the second half to close to within four points with further tries from Steve Snitch and Matt Blaymire only for replacement Mike Worrincy to make the game safe for Bradford with a late try before Sykes completed hs hat-trick in the closing stages.
Earlier, Harlequins emerged victorious in a dour match against Salford who were unable to capitalise on the creative efforts of Richard Myler, the 18-year-old who is expected to become the next England scrum-half.
Myler scored one try in the first half and set up another for his half-back partner Stefan Ratchford but the City Reds were ground down by opponents who made the most of the chances they created.
Quins’ most potent threat came from Luke Dorn, the former Salford stand-off who wielded an even greater influence than Myler by scoring a try and playing a role in two of his side’s three other touchdowns. Dorn’s try on 72 minutes effectively secured the two points for Harlequins, who had led 12-10 at the interval with tries from second row Luke Williamson and Tony Clubb, the exciting Londoner who cut a swathe through the heart of the Salford defence to reach the line with a surging run.
A slick passing move on the hour ended with Dorn putting centre David Howell through for a fine try and though Salford closed the gap with a try by Stefan Ratchford, the 20-year-old stand-off’s second, Quins held out to win.
Source:The times