The Bulls spurned a golden opportunity to enhance their play-off chances after losing 34-28 to 12-man Catalan Dragons.

David Ferriol was sent off for a high tackle on James Donaldson in the 47th minute but Bradford couldn't take advantage.

Olivier Elima opened the scoring within nine minutes, taking the short ball from Marc Herbert to touch down, Patrick Ah Van converting.

But the Dragons hit back through tries from Clint Greenshields and Damien Blanch, the latter following a poor refereeing decision.

Although the visitors appeared the better team with ball in hand, Bradford chipped away at them to take an unlikely half-time lead.

Solid work in possession created field position and Ah Van twice knocked over penalties after the Dragons were penalised for offences at the ruck.

Sebastien Raguin scored a soft try from dummy half shortly after the break but Ah Van levelled with a penalty following Ferriol's red card.

Tom Burgess put the Bulls in front with his first Super League try but the Dragons played some super football to snatch victory.

Ian Henderson scored from dummy half before Dureau finished a move started by Steve Menzies' brilliant offload.

The final nail in the coffin came when Remy Casty picked off a loose pass from Ben Jeffries and Blanch raced 40 metres to score.

Jeffries attempted to make amends by scoring soon after but the Dragons responded quickly, Darryl Millard putting Greenshields away.

Gareth Raynor claimed a late consolation, touching down from a chip and chase.

Bulls: Brett Kearney; Jason Crookes, Patrick Ah Van, Michael Platt, Gareth Raynor; Ben Jeffries, Marc Herbert; Andy Lynch, Matt Diskin, Bryn Hargreaves, Olivier Elima, Elliott Whitehead, Craig Kopczak. Interchange: Nick Scruton, James Donaldson, Danny Addy, Tom Burgess.

Dragons: Clint Greenshields; Jean-Philippe Baile, Darryl Millard, Frederic Vaccari; Steve Menzies, Scott Dureau; David Ferriol, Ian Henderson, Jamal Fakir, Sebastien Raguin, Lopini Paea, Gregory Mounis. Interchange: Remy Casty, Sebastien Martins, Jason Baitieri, Eloi Pelissier.