ALTHOUGH adamant that he had scored the late try that could well have won the game for Bradford Bulls at Widnes Vikings on Sunday, makeshift half-back Elliot Minchella is taking the plus points out of their 25-20 defeat in what was a pulsating contest.

“We are a bit deflated, we are annoyed and it leaves a bit of a sour taste,” admitted the 23-year-old after the last-minute effort was disallowed, “but we are trying to look at the positives.

“Matty (Wildie), Pickers (Brandon Pickersgill) and myself are doing the kicking, which is not ideal, but we are working with what we have got and are doing our best but we have just come up 30 seconds short, so it was not a bad effort.

“They (Widnes) have just come down from Super League, they have a good team and they have a lot of big names and we came within one try in the last minute and we have to take a lot of heart from that, especially at their patch.

“When they went for the two points (by Jack Owens before half-time to give them a 14-12 lead) it kind of galvanised us in that they showed us a bit of respect and it showed that they couldn’t break us down.

“They thought that we were not going to go away and we didn’t. Our defence has been outstanding. You could not argue with our effort and our attitude.”

Recap: John Kear's reaction to late disallowed try

As for the late try that was chalked off for obstruction, Minchella admitted: “In real time I thought it was a try.

“I didn’t think that there was much in it (for it to be disallowed) and I think the Widnes player (Owens) probably made the most of it, but in fairness to them in his position you would probably do the same.

“But it is not to say that I agree with the call. I still think it was a try. If the referee (Gareth Hewer) has made the right call then fair play.”