Bulls boss Steve McNamara admits his side were taught a lesson by clinical Hull KR.

They were outdone 32-12 at Craven Park yesterday, losing a fourth consecutive Super League match as their campaign goes from bad to worse.

Bradford had plenty of chances and led 6-0 and 12-6 heading towards the interval, only to see a host of opportunities wasted.

Poor ball control and some amazing last-ditch defence by Rovers full back Shaun Briscoe combined to thwart them, while the hosts made the most of all their opportunities.

“I think discipline cost us in the first half,” conceded McNamara. “I thought we were looking quite strong and then every time we got them where we wanted we let them off the hook.

“The first try we conceded came on the back of us being in complete control.”

That came from a major howler when both Dave Halley and Ben Jeffries stood waiting for a ball to bounce dead, only to see Scott Murrell dive in between and score.

McNamara would only say he was “disappointed” with that gaffe but privately he will be seething that more action wasn’t taken against Briscoe after he clobbered Paul Deacon late after the skipper set up Mick Worrincy’s try.

“Certainly things are not going for us and we have to stay strong,” he added. “Hopefully the tide will turn.”

Early in the second period, Briscoe held up Jamie Langley, denied Matt Cook and then was adjudged to have forced Rikki Sheriffe into touch just before the Bulls winger passed for Langley to get over.

Trailing just 16-12, it was a vital call from the touch judge but replays have since shown he got it wrong.

Bradford can’t blame officials for all the handling errors and missed tackles they made though, and McNamara said: “When we created some opportunities we never put the ball down.

“And when that happened they seemed to go to the other end and score. That taught us a lesson.”

Still rooted in 12th spot, the Bulls – who entertain Wigan next Sunday – now seem destined to miss the play-offs for the first time in their history.

But McNamara maintained: “I’ve not even thought that far ahead.

“All I’m bothered about is performing next week. I think we can still get up and running.

“I still think there were a whole lot of positives to take out of the game.

“We were in complete control at the start and the stats will show we were in Hull KR territory for most of the game.

“”It’s certainly not all doom and gloom but we were way off the mark during the second half apart from the initial ten-minute period.

“That certainly was very, very disappointing.”