Here's my match report......
Bradford conquer Wigan with late try from Cobi Green.
FT: Bradford Bulls 18-14 Wigan Warriors.
Leigh Beattie hailed "one of the great" Bradford Bulls wins after Cobi Green scored the winning try with less than four minutes remaining on the clock to crown a performance of magnificent defiance from his young Reserves team.
A first half hat-trick from Josh Rickett gave Bradford the platform for a memorable win, although defences tightened up considerably in the second half, there was no let-up in the entertainment, with the Bulls registering a famous victory.
Josh Rickett opened the scoring for the Bulls after just 60 seconds, taking a cut-out pass from left-centre partner Ross Oakes, and he added a second eight minutes later after good quick passing close to the line by Cobi Green, Max Trueman and Alix Stephenson.
Stephenson was able to add one conversion from his first two attempts, though, and after the early Bulls onslaught subsided, Wigan began to respond admirably after a slow start that had left them 10-0 behind as they looked to establish a stranglehold on the game.
The Super League experienced Jake Shorrocks was the catalyst for the Warriors’ response, creating space for a try to winger Sam Grant to score their first try.
Wigan's best chance of the first half to draw level came on 22 minutes when prop Romain Navarrete reached the try line but was held on his back by the suffocating and hungry Bulls defence.
The action was fast and furious as the game was being played out at breakneck speed, and it was Rickett who touched down Trueman's kick to the corner, beating Forsyth and Grant to claim his hat-trick on 25 minutes.
Alix Stephenson was able to convert only one of his side’s first half tries and the Bradford Bulls led 14-4 at the break.
It was a tighter contest in the second half, although both teams looked dangerous on the counter-attack, with both Wigan wingers Ben Holcroft and Sam Grant getting the chance to show their pace out wide as Wigan threatened to cut loose.
The gap was narrowed to just six points in the 64th minute, when Wigan winger Ben Holcroft finished clinically down the left hand side after Bradford had defended three repeat sets on their own line. Shorrocks was once again wide with the conversion, but the visitors were back in the game at 14-8 and could smell blood.
Wigan then blew the game wide open with ten minutes remaining when their centre James Worthington sent Ben Holcroft over for his second try and Shorrocks made it third time lucky with the conversion attempt to level the scores at 14-14.
Wigan were now throwing everything at the young Bulls' defensive line, but Leigh Beattie's class of 2018 are made of stern stuff as they showed an impressive combination of organisation and desperation in defence to stop the Warriors from scoring a fourth try.
Then came the the game's most obvious turning point, as Wigan had surged back after their uncharacteristically slow start, when Cobi Green launched an almighty kick into the sky on the last tackle from inside his own half, causing Wigan fullback Craig Mullen to spill the ball on the halfway line.
It was this error that was to prove to be the game's turning point as Harvey Burnett was the quickest to react to the loose ball on the floor, finding the support of Dan King and then Green to score in a scintillating move from 50 metres out that caused pandemonium in the stands amongst the home supporters.
With less than four minutes to go, the Bulls were now in the driving seat, leading 18-14, and that is how the score remained as they held on for a deserved victory.
Leigh Beattie's post-match press conference put a memorable night in perspective.
"I'd say that would go down as one of the great wins I've been involved with at this club," he said after his reserve side containing eight U19s youngsters inflicted Wigan's first defeat of the Reserve season. "For our young side to stand up to a great Wigan team was unbelievable."
Leigh Beattie confirmed that Liam Kirk had broken his nose in the fifth minute, and had chosen to play through the pain barrier for the remaining 75 minutes.
Bradford Bulls Reserves captain Liam Kirk summed up the solidarity and togetherness within the Bulls side, saying: "I thought it was a cracking advert for Reserve Grade Rugby League. It was such an epic game, with both teams throwing everything at each other. Wigan didn't leave anything in their tank and we had to be very good to defend our line at the death. I'm so proud for myself and the boys to get the win in what has been a tough game."
BRADFORD BULLS: Stephenson; Rickett, Oakes, Burnett, Ryan Butterworth; Trueman, Green; Andrade, Halifihi, Kirk, King, Storton; Fletcher.
INTERCHANGE: Reiss Butterworth, Goodall, Wilson, Foster, Littlewood.
WIGAN WARRIORS: Mullen; Holcroft, Worthington, Forsyth, Grant; Shorrocks, Woods; Navarrete, Ganson, Field, Paisley, Davies; Patrington.
INTERCHANGE: Heckford, Kibula, Byrne, Barnes.
Referee: Brad Milligan.
