Proud Steve McNamara hailed his courageous players but admitted they were angry' after losing at Hull last night.

The injury-hit Bulls had plenty of reason to be miffed after being on the end of some shocking decisions from referee Steve Ganson during the 28-12 defeat.

Having lost Lesley Vainikolo to a calf injury yesterday morning and then seen Brett Ferres limp off early on, the champions were already up against it.

But the official's blunders, including disallowing a Shontayne Hape try for obstruction as they were pressing hard to overturn a ten-point deficit, left the Bulls with even more to do.

After a fiercely-fought contest, McNamara said: "It was a proper game of rugby league.

"There was a huge effort from both sides and I am really, really proud of our players' efforts in the face of lots of adversity and under some of those circumstances.

"We had injuries before the game, injuries during the game and that really hampered us.

"It was just one of those really courageous efforts where both sets of players had to make special efforts and do things they normally wouldn't do."

He added: "Am I being a young, nave coach, third game in, suggesting there were other things?

"I might have been looking at it through Bradford Bulls glasses but there was some things that certainly didn't go our way at crucial times.

"The players are tired and angry."

But McNamara was the first to admit they could blame no one but themselves for allowing Hull to hit the break in front.

The Bulls were 12-10 up with just three minutes to go but they self-destructed to allow Richard Horne and Lee Radford to score vital tries that turned the contest on its head at 22-12.

"We did contribute to our downfall," McNamara conceded. "We lost our concentration, lost our discipline and had penalty, try, penalty, try in the last four sets of the half."

It was McNamara's second defeat in three matches and Ferres (ankle) could now be joining Chris McKenna, Brad Meyers, Matt Cook, Vainikolo and Paul Deacon on a lengthening injury list.

"Every side goes through a bit of adversity and probably we're on the edge of ours at the minute," said McNamara. "But we'll push through it."