Bulls coach Brian Noble praised both sides and the Odsal groundstaff after his side reached the fifth round of the Powergen Challenge Cup on a sodden pitch on Saturday.

He said after holders Hull had been defeated 23-12: "It was a tough game and I would like to pay a compliment to both teams.

"Also the groundstaff did a magnificent job to get the game on. The pitch was as heavy as I have known it for several years.

"It was a good old-fashioned wrestle - like there used to be at Odsal."

Noble was also pleased with his side's forwards and the side's finishing in general.

He added: "Our pack was perhaps a bit better than Hull and at the right times we stood up and got some points.

"Their kicking game was okay and we were up against a quality team but we were very determined.

"We got over what was a heavy field and we won the energy battle and maybe our clinical finishing was the difference.

"Iestyn Harris led from the front and Stanley Gene came on and gave us a big lift. We had spoken all week about positive talk - about what we do with the ball and what to do when we don't have the ball."

Under-pressure Hull coach John Kear put on a brave face after his side had fallen at the first hurdle in their defence of the cup.

He said: "It's very disappointing

to go out but performance-wise I thought we were pretty good. There was plenty of good endeavour.

"In the first half we played really well. There were a couple of chances we didn't take and we were left to rue them."

Things looked good for Hull at the interval but they failed to deal with some pinpoint Bulls kicks from Harris and Paul Deacon in the

second half which brought tries for Marcus Bai and Shontayne Hape.

And Kear queried the legality of Bradford's first try, scored by Jamie Langley, saying: "We had two men over on the left and it looked like it was offside against Bradford."