Hull Kingston Rovers 49 Bradford Bulls 24: Bulls coach asks fans not to blame struggling stars

The four-time Super League champions, who lifted the trophy in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005, fell to a 10th-successive loss, their worst run since they were reformed as Bradford Northern in 1964.

But St. Hilaire, who has been coaching the side since Steve McNamara left and will do so until Mick Potter arrives at the end of the season, has exonerated the clutch of home-grown talent in his squad from responsibility.

"I think it is unfair for them to carry the can," he said. "They've been thrown in at the deep end as I have. If you were to slide a couple of them into the top four sides you wouldn't be worried about them.

"They've come into a side that's 10 on the bounce. They'll be good for the future but it's not fair for them to carry the can for what happens.

"There's a lot of edginess in our play, we've lost 10 on the bounce and we're having to field a lot of young players at the moment. We had a lot of defence to do in the first half; they had the ball for about 30 minutes. When you fatigue your shape goes out of the window."

St. Hilaire admits his side's chances of making the play-offs are now slim, but is preferring to chase performances rather than a top-eight spot.

"It will be very difficult to make the top eight," he said. "It's not that we're not going to try to get there. The players are still working towards it but we're working to perform rather than win."

Justin Morgan was just happy to see his side get back into the winning habit following their narrow loss to Hull last weekend.

"It was two points but that's about it," said the Australian. "I wasn't overly impressed with the way we played. But two points is what you require, and we got that.

"There was a pressure after losing the derby last week, with us wanting to bounce back and so forth. We got the points and that is the main thing. It was a funny old game, and I can't imagine it was a great spectacle. But we did the job and will come back next week and do the job again.

"It was stop start, with one team wanting to bounce back and one wanting to snap a losing run. I thought we could have been better with our concentration, and we were a little loose in defence.

"The 49 points were pleasing and although we lost momentum at times, we never lost the ascendancy."

Bradford could have few complaints about the loss, as Rovers came up with the perfect response to their 20-16 loss to Hull in the last round of fixtures, with Peter Fox and Clint Newton, who were branded 'cocky' by Hull coach Richard Agar after that game, scoring five tries between them – Fox getting a hat-trick.

Having been denied a potential match-winning try in the last minute of last weekend's derby, England winger Fox was in no mood to miss out here, and crossed inside five minutes.

Tom Briscoe's memorable tackle denied him nine days ago, but Fox found the Bradford defenders far less resistant as he crashed onto Michael Dobson's pass for a 10th try of the season.

The home side added a second try on 16 minutes, with Sam Latus netting his first professional score. The rookie winger endured a nightmare 80 minutes in the defeat to Hull, but repaid the faith shown in him by coach Morgan with a tidy finish in the corner after Ben Galea's cut-out pass, with Dobson adding the extras from the touchline.

The impressive Scott Murrell then kicked his second 40-20 kick of the game and his team-mates capitalised on the territory it gave them, with Australian prop Joel Clinton embarking on an unstoppable run from 15 metres out that took him all the way to the line.

Bradford rallied with half- breaks from Daniel Addy and Michael Platt, and got the reward their improvement deserved 13 minutes before the break when Stuart Reardon got his fifth try of the season after Elliott Whitehead's offload.

It was only a temporary reprieve for the Bulls, though, and Newton quickly widened the gap between the two sides as he raced through off Dobson's flat pass.

Bradford gave themselves a chance going in at half-time, with winger Vinny Finigan crossing after Dave Halley's long pass, while on the stroke of the hooter, Shaun Briscoe's interception stopped Steve Menzies playing Platt in under the posts.

But any hopes Bradford had of continuing their momentum into the second half were quickly aborted by Whitehead's handling error, and in-form forward Newton made him pay in the 42nd minute by taking in another Dobson pass for a seventh try in six games.

Newton then turned provider, cutting out Josh Charnley to play Fox in for his second, before Briscoe went under the posts for a deserved try.

Craig Kopczak kept going for Bradford and barrelled his way past Briscoe to score on the hour, before Heath L'Estrange sparked thoughts of a late comeback with a scrappy effort.

But Fox extinguished any hopes as he raced the length of the field to secure his hat-trick, before Finigan added to his burgeoning reputation with a fourth senior try in his second senior outing after Charnley's error.

Dobson's drop goal and Briscoe's second try ensured Rovers finished on top.

Hull K R: Briscoe, Fox, Charnley, Colbon, Latus, Murrell, Dobson, Clinton, Fisher, Lovegrove, Newton, Galea, Watts. Substitutes: Wheeldon, Netherton, Spaven, Mariano.

Bradford: Halley, Finigan, Platt, Nero, Reardon, Menzies, Addy, Lynch, L'Estrange, Kopczak, Whitehead, Worrincy, Langley. Substitutes: Crossley, Godwin, Hall, Olbison.

Referee: T Alibert (Toulouse).