Hull 8 Bradford 24: Cook finish and kit clash leave Hull feeling off colour

Bradford left it late to show their true colours last night, as three tries in the final quarter of an often confusing match – because of two almost identical playing strips – lifted them to second spot in Super League.

Hull will feel that everything is conspiring against them after the clash of kits lured them into some important mistakes early in the game. The hosts had plenty of chances to take control of this game, but it was typical of their season so far that they failed to do so and finished up well beaten by a Bulls side finally finding its form.

Matt Cook, Semi Tadulala and Sam Burgess got the vital tries to put an altogether more optimistic gloss on their season. With both teams wearing what was basically white with a bit of black, Willie Manu and Kirk Yeaman both passed to the opposition when Hull were well placed.

To paraphrase the old TV commentator "for those of you watching in colour, both teams are playing in black and white".

The Hull coach, Peter Sharp, agreed that the colour clash had been one of the contributory factors behind another disappointing result for a side bumping along one off the bottom of the league.

"The jumpers were pretty close and I was confused myself," he said. "It happened three or four times, but that's just the way we're going at the moment. I'm not going to make excuses because we weren't good enough tonight – not by a long shot."

After their early errors, Hull still took the lead through Shaun Berrigan's close-range try only to be pegged back by half-time when Ben Jeffries put in a beautifully weighted kick that was plucked out of the air by Chris Nero.

An exchange of penalties kept the sides neck and neck, although a disallowed try to Todd Byrne would have given Hull a crucial advantage.

Instead, it was the Bulls who finished by far the more strongly, with the substitute Cook making the breakthrough when he twisted his way over from dummy-half after 64 minutes. A simple overlap allowed Nero to put Tadulala away on the left flank, before Burgess forced his way over with two minutes to play.

It was a satisfying result for the Bradford coach, Steve McNamara, Hull born and bred, and a former player at the club. "We're not getting carried away, but this was a very important victory for us," he said.

Hull: Tony, Byrne, G Horne, Yeaman, Raynor, R Horne, Lee, Dowes, Berrigan, Cusack, Radford, Manu, Tickle. Replacements: Thackray, Houghton, Washbrook, Wheeldon.

Bradford: Halley, Evans, Sykes, Hape, Tadulala, Jeffries, Deacon, Burgess, Godwin, Lynch, Nero, Finnigan, Langley. Replacements: Kopczak, Cook, Feather, Harris.

Referee: B Thaler (Wakefield)

* In the night's other game, Catalan Dragons' Jamal Fakir scored his first try for almost two years to help his side extend their best-ever run in Super League and climb into the top six. The Dragons came from 12-4 down and held off Huddersfield to beat their hosts 20-16 and claim their third away win of the season to extend their unbeaten run to five matches. The game finished on a controversial note when Giants scrum-half Luke Robinson appeared to have the ball stolen in a two-man tackle after being pulled down short of the line but the scrum was awarded to the visitors.