6:50am Saturday 27th June 2009
By Dave Craven
Bulls boss Steve McNamara bemoaned the lack of a video referee after his side controversially lost a thrilling match against Leeds Rhinos last night.
They eventually went down 33-20 but trailed just 26-20 with four minutes to go when they had a glorious effort ruled out at Headingley Carnegie.
Winger Rikki Sheriffe dived over in the corner following a fine move, only to see the linesman pull it back saying he had been forced into touch.
It was a finish that former Bull Lesley Vainikolo – who was in the stands watching his former team-mates – would have been proud of.
The decision caused outrage among the Bulls players, who were insistent Sheriffe had touched down.
It was the first time in years the fixture hadn’t been televised by Sky so there was no chance to study replays.
McNamara admitted: “I am a massive fan of the video ref and I wish there had been one here tonight.
“Rikki was adamant he scored the try; his technique was great for it. That is an extremely tough decision but if there had been a video referee we’d have been a lot clearer.”
The Bulls, inspired by skipper Paul Deacon, had bounced back from 16-2 down to give the champions a real scare.
McNamara conceded he felt they warranted more from the contest.
“We gave ourselves a bit of a mountain to climb but for large parts I thought we were the better side,” he said.
“It’s a cruel sport. I don’t think we got what we deserved last night.
“It was a great effort from a lot of players but I am really disappointed we have not won.”
Leeds coach Brian McClennan admitted Bradford had caused them plenty of problems before a piece of Rob Burrow individual brilliance finally handed them victory, with Scott Donald adding gloss in the last minute.
“We got off to a good start but then Bradford came back really well,” he said.
“They got a bit of ball and were very good with it, attacking our line.
“They played well, it was a derby match and they really got up for it but in the end we came away with a good win.”
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