PROUD boss Rohan Smith could not hide his disappointment after the Bulls were subjected to a heartbreaking defeat at Leigh.

Bradford produced an outstanding performance against the Championship leaders but Reni Maitua's late try condemned them to a 22-20 loss.

The result left the Bulls three points adrift of the top four with only three rounds of the regular season remaining.

Head coach Smith said: "It's disappointing for sure because the boys put in a lot of effort, but I'm really proud too because we had a lot of battered and bruised people out there at one point.

"But we found a way to defend for the most part in that second half.

"All we can do now is concentrate on our next match and getting two points.

"It's going to be tough, but we can't look any further ahead than that. It's not over yet and we will keep fighting."

Smith's men trailed 10-0 early on after conceding tries to Lee Smith and Gareth Hock.

But they hit back through Omari Caro and Kieren Moss either side of a third home score from Greg Worthington.

Smith added: "I thought we performed well across the board.

"Yes, there was a bit of a slow start but it's hard to play strongly for 80 minutes.

"We played strongly for a big chunk of that game and I thought we looked quite dominant for long periods."

Danny Addy took a whack to the face and James Clare sustained a hamstring injury, with other players also picking up knocks.

Yesterday's game mirrored the Summer Bash defeat to Leigh in Blackpool, where a late try also condemned the Bulls to defeat.

Smith said: "I thought we probably played better than the Summer Bash in large parts of yesterday's game, particularly in attack.

"We really troubled them and maybe overplayed our hand a couple of times.

"I thought we performed well and on a different day that same performance would get the result we were after.

"I'm extremely proud of the effort we put in and the support from the fans was fantastic."

New signing Dane Chisholm is due to arrive shortly and should make his debut at home to Whitehaven on Sunday.

Smith said: "Dane is not the saviour or anything like that but we are looking forward to him coming in.

"He will come and play his part and I'm looking forward to forming a close bond with him and working together as half-back and coach."