The Bulls have learned the hard way that starting badly can be fatal, says coach Brian Noble.

Noble's men have lost the first halves of their last two matches by a

combined score of 38-0. On Saturday they paid a heavy price for their early lethargy as they were bundled out of the Powergen Challenge Cup by Hull despite scoring four tries to one in the second half.

"We are out of the

competition and I am

bitterly disappointed that we are not in the next round," said Noble.

"We are leaking too many points - in tight games that comes and bites you. We are waking up far

too late in games and lacking urgency and

composure.

"But there is no lack of effort and no lack of determination. They are a solid group of people and they will stick together after what was a bitterly disappointing defeat. We always do. But we have to learn the lessons and one of the cruel ways to do that is to go out of the Challenge Cup. It just reinforces the message that we have to start

better.

"We still have half a

season to go in the other competition but we are bitterly disappointed because we thought we could go to Hull and get a result and we didn't. In the first half, they were patient and we weren't."

Friday night's trip to The Willows to face Salford means the Bulls have a short turnaround this week. Much of that time is likely to be spent analysing their recent first-half meltdowns.

"We have to fix things up for Friday night and we will do that," said Noble, who added ruefully: "I have had a few phone calls saying I should do the half-time speech first. Maybe I should try that this week."