Halifax have fallen out with Bradford Bulls over the Challenge Cup winners' response to a paragraph in the New Shay match-day programme.

The offending paragraph for last Friday's game against St Helens read: "Anyone who can consistently beat the Cattle (Bulls) in the games which really count - as they (Saints) do - and show the retards from Odslum for the whingeing, blubbing, dummy-spitting, rattle-chucking cry babies that they really are deserve our heart-felt thanks."

The Bulls, whose disabled supporters have been particularly upset by the 42-word tirade, have sent the paragraph to the Rugby Football League in case they want to take any action.

Things seemed to be smoothing themselves over yesterday afternoon when the Bulls' media and public relations officer, Stuart Duffy, said that if Halifax's acting chief executive officer Stephen Pearson apologised in the Telegraph & Argus then the Odsal club would consider the matter closed.

But Pearson then found out that the Bulls had already sent the paragraph to the RFL.

"Haven't they got anything better to do with their time?" he said. "I am gob-smacked that the Bulls have sent the paragraph to the RFL, and now we will have a row with them.

"The Bulls' action is petty. Once we realised the article was not being taken in the jocular fashion intended we acted in a professional way."

Pearson has sent a letter to the T&A, saying: "First, and without equivocation, can we apologise for the wholly inappropriate nature of the remarks."

He later added that, because of staff illness, "clearly this meant that we were not as tight in our editorial control as we should have been."