JOHN Kear says Halifax and marshal Murrell have given the Bulls a lot to think about.

The Bradford-side lost out 21-14 in this local derby which was played in Blackpool for the Summer Bash.

Kear said lessons would be learnt from the match and was impressed with key-man Scott Murrell.

The Halifax stand-off scored a pivotal drop-goal late one to take his side out-of-reach and had a strong influence all game.

Kear said: "Halifax played their game-plan very well.

"I thought Scott Murrell marshalled the game – I don’t think he’s been on the floor tonight.

"He caused problems with ball in hand – whether it’s his passing game and his kicking game was exceptionally good.

"That’s a salutary lesson for us and one we’ll need to be better at in two weeks’ time."

Kear felt his side were drawn into a "certain kind of game" and admits they would have to learn from their mistakes imminently.

He said: "We started very well – I was pretty pleased with the first-half.

"But, the second-half we just got sucked into a set-for-set and a stop-start game and Halifax were better than us at it.

"Congratulations to them and they’ve come away with the victory."