Furious Bulls coach Brian Noble felt Saints captain Chris Joynt succumbed to a tackle from scrum-half Paul Deacon with 10 seconds to go.

The game's rules state: "a player in possession shall not deliberately and unnecessarily allow himself to be tackled by voluntarily falling on the ground when not held by an opponent".

And Noble believes referee Russell Smith should have awarded a penalty.

That would have given Paul Deacon, the league's leading scorer, a kick at goal and the chance to overhaul St Helen's 19-18 lead.

But Cummings said: "Chris Joynt was clearly trying to make sure that St Helens retained possession with only 10 seconds to go.

"He had one arm wrapped securely around the ball and ran towards Paul Deacon. He was using his other arm to fend the tackle.

"He is seen to learn forward and protect the ball from any impact as he leans forward into the tackle.

"Paul Deacon is directly in front and, as Joynt leans into the expected tackle, Paul Deacon deliberately moves out of the way, causing Joynt to fall to the ground.

"As soon as he realises that he has not been tackled, Joynt gets up and attempts to make further progress.

"Therefore, it can be seen that Joynt did not deliberately fall to the ground but he ended up on the ground as a result of the Bradford player moving out of the way.

"In my opinion, the decision by Russell Smith to allow play to proceed was the correct one."

Cummings, who was one of the game's top referees for 10 years, said he had never given a penalty for the offence and said it was very rarely seen.

Meanwhile, Noble could find himself in hot water over his comments when the League's executive discuss the match and review the tape tomorrow.