BRADFORD Bulls head coach John Kear cut a frustrated figure after his side’s fixture with Swinton Lions on Sunday despite the Odsal side winning 30-26.

The game was far from a classic and Bulls didn’t produce the scintillating attacking form some may have expected-coming up against a side who had only won one game all season.

And if it weren’t for Jordan Lilley’s brilliance from the tee, then they may have found themselves dropping points with both sides scoring five tries each.

Although not at their best, the Bradford side did appear in control of the fixture at 30-14 up after substitute George Flanagan’s eye-catching cameo, scoring two second half-tries.

Swinton fought back at the death with two quickfire tries, taking the score to 30-26 but Bradford held on.

And post-match, Kear didn’t hold back his emotions when discussing his side’s performance.

He said: “We’ve just had 40 minutes where we didn’t concede any points against Newcastle, so we were feeling pretty good in the defensive third before today.

“But in today’s case, if you don’t invest energy in defence then you get picked apart. That’s what has happened today and it meant we gave two tries away. We have then allowed them into the game and overall it has been a god damn awful performance.

“I think the biggest worry today is from minute one to minute eighty. We are going to send the players the game to watch tonight and we hope they watch it and they look at exactly what it looked like from the sideline because it didn’t look pretty.”

Kear added: “I’m more worried about the performance. It’s a results based sport but results come on the back of performances and we’ve got away with one today.”

Kear also questioned his side’s attitude after the game, based on their respect levels for the side’s bottom outfit, however he was full of praise for Swinton.

He said: “Congratulations to Swinton, who I thought really came here and showed desperation to achieve something from the game.

“I thought we were disrespectful with our attitude towards the game and it has been a terrible week’s preparation and I think that was reflected in the performance.”

Kear, who was evidently frustrated with his side’s performance, could also sense the frustration within the home faithful throughout the 80 minutes of rugby.

He said: “There was just no atmosphere today and I think the crowd sensed that we were flat. Consequently, I think the crowd were flat. It has been a poor game; it was nearly two hours in total and the ruck speed was slow. It has just been an awful game for everybody except for Swinton who can take great heart from their display.”

One player who can hold is head high is George Flanagan. Bradford’s interchange hero scored a second half brace and was instrumental to his side collecting the two points.

And Kear was delighted with what he saw from the double try scorer.

He said: “We played awful today and if George Flanagan hadn’t got on then we wouldn’t have won.

“He has dragged the players on his coattails to victory and it just shows as well how much we miss the leadership of Steve Crossley.

“When a leader like Crossley isn’t there, you realise how important they are within the group dynamics.”

Young academy star Bradley Ho made his first start for the club against Swinton but Kear hoped it could have been in a different state of affairs.

He said: I wish it had been in better circumstances with a better performance for the kid. It was tough sending him out there when we were playing with a lack of energy and a lack of purpose.”

Bulls will be hoping for a much improved performance next week as they face a tough trip to York City Knights next Sunday.