Bradford Bulls chairman Chris Caisley has hit out at referee Stuart Cummings after Graeme Bradley was found not guilty of the offence which saw him sent off in his farewell appearance.

The Bulls skipper was accused of making a deliberate attack to the head of Chris Smith during the 46-24 play-off defeat at St Helens last Friday.

The Australian centre was dismissed by Cummings just 16 minutes into the play-off en-counter which effectively ended the Bulls' season. Matthew Elliott's side were leading 12-6 at the time.

However, the game's disciplinary committee found Bradley not guilty after watching video evidence of the incident for more than an hour.

Caisley said: "This makes it an even harder pill to swallow. The fact that Graeme has been found not guilty vindicates what we have been saying since 16 minutes into Friday's game.

"Who knows what could have happened in the remainder of the game? Matt Elliott's game-plan was working and the players were playing particularly well.

"It was a pity that one man ruined that and I suppose we will never know why Mr Cummings decided to dismiss Bradley. But it effectively ended our season."

The disciplinary committee watched video footage of the incident involving Bradley and the Saints winger from several angles.

RFL spokesman Peter Rowe said: "The committee found there was insufficient evidence to prove the charge of a deliberate attack to the head. They watched the video for over an hour before deciding that the only verdict they could come to was not guilty."

Former Bradford centre Paul Newlove also appeared before the committee following his late dismissal - the first of his career - for a high tackle on James Lowes. His offence was deemed sending off sufficient and he is free to play for Saints in their clash with Halifax on Friday.

Despite the sense of injustice surrounding the Bulls elimination, Caisley said it is time to look to the future.

"The Saints game has gone now and we have to look for the positive points out of the situation. We are going to have a very exciting team next season with the signings we have made.

"We also have the best supporters in the game. They showed yet again on Friday just how tremendous they are with not one of them leaving before the end.

"That makes everyone involved with Bradford Bulls even more determined to earn success."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.