LEIGH Beattie believes Lucas Walshaw should have been sent off after labelling his challenge against Joe Keyes "disgusting" in the Bulls' 38-12 defeat at Dewsbury.

The relegation clash was delicately poised at 20-12 to the Rams early in the second half when the former Bradford player left Keyes floored after a challenge with his shoulder, which ended the half-back's involvement in the match.

Beattie was angry as Walshaw was left unpunished by inexperienced referee Liam Moore, who is in his first season at Championship level.

The Bulls interim coach said: "He has deliberately gone to strike him in the face with his shoulder. It's a red card but we don't get anything – nothing is done about it."

Defeat to Dewsbury increases the threat of relegation for the Bulls, who are now ten points from safety.

They failed to reproduce the impressive form of the week before when they almost pulled off a shock victory over leaders Hull KR.

Yet Beattie said: "A few circumstances changed the game like losing your half to a disgusting challenge off the ball, a shoulder charge, and nothing is done about it.

"It is clear on the video, he's knocked him spark out when we are still in the game at 20-12.

"We've shown the match commissioner some footage which clearly shows him (Walshaw) striking him to the face but they are not interested.

"He might get a one-game ban but we lose Keyes and we've lost the game – not just through that but it hasn't helped."

Beattie admitted he did not feel referee Moore had control of the game, which descended into a mass brawl minutes after the Keyes incident following an altercation between Oscar Thomas and Dale Morton which saw the Bulls player pushed into the advertising boards while defending his own line.

Both players were sin-binned, with Beattie saying of the incident: "Oscar Thomas got rammed into the fence. It's just a cheap shot; just pathetic."

Having already been without playmaker Dane Chisholm, who was sidelined with a knee injury sustained on his return for the Odsal club against Hull KR, the Bulls were dealt a further snag when on-loan second-row Cameron Smith had to pull out of the warm-up with an injury.

Beattie revealed that Colton Roche may also have dislocated his shoulder.

It meant Bradford were again down to the bare bones in the latter part of the game, with Beattie saying: "We had no bench left.

"We had Jordan Lilley trying to play both sides, three hookers on again and Cameron Smith pulled out, which was a massive blow, so we had to put Vila (Halafihi) there."

The Rams' victory – coupled with Swinton's win over Oldham – leaves the Bulls with a mountain to climb if they are to avoid dropping into League One.

Beattie accepts it amounts to one of the toughest tests they will ever face but he said: "We've got to pick ourselves up.

"We'll assess our injuries and see how many players we've got left. We'll just have to go again. It's as simple as that."