Bradford Bulldogs: 2024-25 Season Review
END OF THE LINE: The Bulldogs were edged out in the race for the play-offs but head coach Andy Brown still took plenty of positives from the 2024-25 NIHL North Two (Laidler) campaign. Picture: Alien Aerial Photography.
DESPITE spending the bulk of the 2024-25 campaign scrapping away at the bottom end of the NIHL North Two (Laidler) standings, head coach Andy Brown was pleased with the overall progress made by Bradford Bulldogs.
Brown expected the campaign to be tough going having bid farewell to several long-serving players at the end of the previous season, most notably top goalscorer and captain Dean Boothroyd, whio both retired.
With Connor Medley also retiring and Declan Kime joining Leeds Knights 2 in NIHL North One, it pointed towards a sizable rebuilding job for the Bulldogs, with opportunities for youngsters to come through and stake a claim.
While they would ultimately miss out on the play-offs, the Bulldogs saved their best performance until last when they beat league runners-up Sutton Sting 5-3 at The Pound, giving hope for better things to come in 2025-26.
“Overall I’m reasonably pleased with the progress we’ve made as a team over the course of the season,” said Brown.
“We knew going into this year it was going to be tough due to the amount of players we lost from last season.
“We were basically without our entire first line, one that included the likes of league top goalscorer Josh Stockton and our longstanding captain Dean Boothroyd.
PLANNING AHEAD: Bulldogs’ head coach, Andy Brown. Picture: Andy Bourke/Podium Prints.
“Players like that are impossible to replace at this level so we knew our focus would be on rebuilding a team and more than likely battling it out at the bottom end of the table.
“We received a further setback almost straight away when promising forward Tom Mardell was put out for the season needing surgery on his knee.”
Goals were likely to be harder to come by given the exits of Stockton and Medley and it was Kacper Andrukianiec who stepped up to mainly fill the void.
The 21-year-old enjoyed a highlight reel moment when he scored SIX goals in the 7-3 home win over Nottingham Lions 2, eventually finishing the campaign as top points-scorer with 32 points from 25 league and cup games.
TOP MAN: Kacper Andrukianiec finished the season as top points scorer in the league for the Bulldogs, posting 17 goals and 14 assists in 23 appearances. Picture: Andy Bourke/Podium Photos.
He shared the goalscoring top spot with Kai Hathaway - the pair scoring 17 goals each - with Hathaway proving a welcome addition on a two-way deal from Widnes Wild, posting 25 points overall from just 14 games.
Lucas Vince was the only other player to reach double figures, scoring 11 in an overall tally of 21 points from 27 games.
“I felt we finished the season well, " concluded Brown. “Beating Sutton in what proved our last league game showed just how far we’ve come as a team.
“If we can keep the core of this team together over the summer and make a few additions we should compete better next year.”