Stobart Super League: Magic Weekend 2012 at the Etihad Stadium
Leed's Danny McGuire scores a try at the Etihad Stadium
Wakefield's VInce Mellars celebrates scoring a try at the Etihad Stadium
Richard Mathers of Wakefield scores a try at the Etihad Stadium
Catalan's Remi Casty pushes through the London line to score a try at the Etihad Stadium
Catalan's Steve Menzies gets to grips with London's Scott Wheeldon at the Etihad Stadium
Salford's Joel Moon crosses the line to score a try at the Etihad Stadium
St Helen's Paul Wellens is challenged by Wigan's Sean O'Loughlin at the Etihad Stadium
Wigan's Liam Farrell celebrates his try with Sam Tomkins at the Etihad Stadium
Widnes' Patrick Ah Van looks dejected at the Etihad Stadium
Warrington's Joel Monaghan takes a catch ahead of Widnes' Rhys Hanbury to score the games final try at the Etihad Stadium
Bradford Bulls v Leeds Rhinos – Super League
Friday evening’s game at Odsal had been chalked up to possibly be the Bulls’ final game. Due to financial difficulties, the club was likely to enter administration if £500,000 could not be found before the end of the day – also the end of the tax year. A statement was due to be released the following morning. There had been an emergency auction to raise funds, alongside street collections and a telephone hotline set up to take pledges. A bumper crowd was expected to fill the historic Odsall Stadium, and the support did not disappoint. There was talk of season ticket holders leaving their entitlement at home, and paying extra for the privilege of watching on from the terraces.
Drizzle very much summed up the general mood before kick off, with many fans with glum expressions on their face. Kick off halted the rain, and turned the frowns upside down. The atmosphere was certainly something to behold. The travelling Leeds’ support was more numerous than normal, and volleyed for vocal supremacy with the home crowd. The first half however, did not provide too much in the way of on field entertainment with just the single Leeds try.
The break proved to be the required catalyst, and a dazzling second half performance from Bradford saw the deficit turned around. Tries from Ben Jeffries and Bull’s man of the match Jamie Langley saw the despondent home side record a morale boosting victory. Indeed, the team lap of honour following the final whistle suggested an improving mood in the Bradford camp.
A general view at the Odsal Stadium
Leeds kick off in front of a packed Odsal Stadium
Bradford's Tom Burgess in action at the Odsal Stadium
Bradford man of the match Jamie Langley celebrates victory at the Odsal Stadium
Bradford head coach Mick Potter leads his victorious side off the pitch at the Odsal Stadium
St Helen’s v Leeds – engage Super League Grand Final 2011
Leeds' Zak Hardaker celebrates scoring the winning try at Old Trafford
Leeds celebrate becoming champions at Old Trafford
St Helens v Hull – engage Super League
Hull coach Richard Agar at the Halton Stadium, Widnes
A late call on a Thursday evening from an ill colleague resulted in me having a rare Friday night working. Rugby league it was. The same rugby league that I hadn’t done any of since the season opener at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium back in February!
The tie saw mid-table Hull take on high flying St Helens. Chances are St Helens were going to walk the game at their adopted home, the Stobart Stadium in Widnes. Unfortunately for me, this meant I’d probably have a quiet game, as the clients were the papers in and around Hull! With a prospective away defeat on his hands, photographs of coach Richard Agar looking thoughtful or disappointed were a must. This can be a problem, when the only decent access you have is before the game – when spirits are usually high!
The first half saw me shooting the Hull attack with me facing the St Helens fans at the opposite end. The late summer sunshine provided a lovely warm light across the centre of the field, though the shade at my end was problematic with backlit exposures! More problems with backlighting in the second half was partially fixed with moving ten feet to my right, but still caused issues with silhouetting. Though when the lighting worked, it worked nicely, casting a golden glow across the pitch.
St Helens wrapped up the tie with a 28 – 14 victory way before time despite a late consolation try from Joe Westerman, converted by Tom Briscoe. The suspected quiet game didn’t disappoint, but what action there was, was at least fairly decent.
Hull's Joe Westerman is tackled by Saint's Jonny Lomax at the Halton Stadium, Widnes
Hull's Sam Moa is tackled by Saint's James Roby and James Graham at the Halton Stadium, Widnes
St Helens v Wigan Warriors – engage Super League Grand Final
The season drew to an end with the engage Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford, Manchester this evening. A sell out 72,000 strong crowd cheered on both sides – although Wigan had the larger following, which showed during play with them edging out a 22-10 victory.
The game marked the final appearance for St Helen’s captain Keiron Cunningham, and with a celebrity appearance from Manchester’s own Diana Vickers to get proceedings under way.. it was going to be a busy night!
Salford City Reds 0 – 7 Bradford Bulls – engage SL
Tonight I was shooting the engage Super League game between Salford and Bradford. As you can see from the scoreline.. it wasn’t the most thrilling of games! A trait that has followed me for a good couple of weeks now.. let’s hope things pick up!
