Steve McNamara only had praise for his beaten Bulls side after they cruelly lost a classic derby last night.

Determined Bradford had performed heroically to get into a winning position against Leeds and seemed to be on their way to a two-point lead at the top of Super League.

But then their cast-iron defence was finally breached as Great Britain's Danny McGuire escaped to put winger Scott Donald over for a dramatic 77th-minute score at Grattan Stadium.

Kevin Sinfield nailed the conversion and jubilant Leeds came away 18-14 victors to overhaul Bulls at the summit.

But McNamara refused to be downbeat, having seen his team deliver in all but the final result.

"Both coaches will be really proud of their sides after that," he said.

"I don't know what it was like watching from a neutral perspective but from the sidelines it was probably one of best games of rugby league this season. It was a great game.

"We're obviously really disappointed we haven't got the two points but we played well.

"The last two weeks we've been a little bit rusty and I was just really pleased we're back in some sort of form. For the bounce of a ball either way, the game's a different scoreline.

"As disappointed as we all are, it's not the end of the world for us."

McNamara was right to take the positives after the Bulls, who have leaked points this season, showed much more resilience and resolve last night.

Their defensive efforts seemed to have won the match until dangerman McGuire managed to break clear on a rare dart at the death.

"They're special players and he came up with a special play. We got our fingers burnt," said McNamara.

"But the good things are, one, we don't have to wait long to get another crack at Leeds as we've got them at the Millennium Stadium next month, and two, we get a chance to hit back in four days' time when we play Wakefield."

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