Warrington coach Paul Cullen criticised referee Bob Connolly after the official dismissed three Wolves players during the Challenge Cup defeat by Bradford on Saturday.

The Bulls ran away with the match in the second half as Warrington struggled to cope with being short-handed, but Cullen refused to accept that the sin-binnings were deserved.

"They completely ruined the game," said Cullen. "Any side would have run away with the game in those circumstances.

"There were 34 outstanding athletes on the field today and everyone is going home talking about one person.

Fair calls

"If officials are going to be so pedantic and over-zealous, it's got to apply to both sides and I don't think it was today."

Bradford coach Brian Noble, who saw his side score five tries on their way to 38-12 victory, backed the referee's performance.

"I thought they were all fair calls," he said.

"It enabled us to use our right midfield and obviously makes it difficult to defend against us."

Castleford coach Graham Steadman admitted the sending-off of Ryan Hudson cost his side a place in the fifth round.

Costly mistake

Former Wakefield forward Hudson was dismissed in the first half for fighting as the Tigers went down 20-18 to the Wakefield Wildcats in a fierce local derby at Belle Vue.

Steadman said: "The actions of one player cost us dearly today and we paid for that.

"According to one or two on the bench that saw it, Ryan did not act very professionally or responsibly.

"We paid for it today and he knows he has cost his team the chance of playing in round five."