Steve McNamara hailed the Bulls' win over Wigan as one of their best performances of the season.

They moved up to fourth place following the 26-12 success yesterday, built on steely defence and a ruthless opening quarter.

Slick Bradford hardly made a mistake as they ran up a 16-0 lead in the Odsal mud, courtesy of Semi Tadulala, Shontayne Hape and Ben Jeffries tries.

McNamara said: "That was probably as well as we have controlled a game yet. We got decent plays going forward, kicked the ball long and then defended strongly on the back of it while staying disciplined.

"Our starting positions just got better and better and we came up with those 16 points because of it."

Although the visitors threatened a comeback, bringing it back to 18-12, James Evans' try at the death sealed a fifth win in six matches.

"Momentum can change quickly and you're never safe but I felt we were in control for most of the game," admitted McNamara.

"We were very good from start to finish, scored enough points in dreadful conditions and defended stoutly enough to prevent Wigan from creating much. The performance was a real reflection of our week's preparation."

McNamara described Terry Newton's display against his former club as "pretty outstanding" after the hooker picked Wigan apart brilliantly from dummy half.

He also praised the bravery of Andy Lynch following the prop's horrific facial injury when tackling Wigan second-row Gareth Hock, who appeared to lead with his elbow.

"It was a dreadful fracture, with the front of his teeth coming off the bone," revealed McNamara.

"Lynchy had it stitched back on though and went back out there. The kid's a tough boy.

"Wayne Godwin got injured a couple of days beforehand and Chris Feather and Joe Vagana were out, so we were a little lightweight up front.

"But he, Tez and Sam Burgess did tremendously for us, with Craig Kopczak giving a very important cameo too. They were great."

Meanwhile, stand-off Jeffries pulled up with a hamstring injury in the first half, making him a doubt for Saturday's Cardiff clash against Leeds.

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