Bulldogs with plenty to work on after facing off against North Two’s early pace-setters

TOUGH DAY: Bradford Bulldogs lost out 5-0 at home to Sutton Sting on Sunday.

ANDY BROWN praised the work ethic of his Bradford Bulldogs’ team over a two-game weekend - but accepted they were undone by two better teams in Coventry NIHL Blaze and unbeaten leaders Sutton Sting.

Bradford went into the weekend looking to extend their two-game winning start to the 2023-24 NIHL North Two campaign and, in Coventry on the Saturday came close to doing so when they led 3-2 with just under five minutes remaining.

But Blaze levelled with a short-handed strike and then, with less than a minute of overtime remaining, Daniel Kent fired home a power play rocket from distance to secure the extra point for the hosts.

The following day, back on home ice, the Bulldogs were always chasing the game against a Sutton team who showed why they are yet to be beaten this season, the visitors heading home from Bradford Ice Arena on the back of a fully-deserved 5-0 win.

TOP STOPPER: Jake Lowndes impressed in the Bulldogs net, turning away 60 of 65 shots on his net.

“I was pleased with the way we battled on both nights against two strong teams,” said head coach Brown.

“We knew it would be a tough weekend but we still went into it looking for points. We were missing key players for both games too so I was happy that we took the lead in Coventry and battled hard for the entire game. It’s obviously disappointing not to get the extra point in OT but once we went short handed it was always going to be a tough ask.

“On Sunday, we could see why Sutton are where they are. They are a quality team and, again, even though we battled hard, they had a bit too much for us, particularly going forward. 

“We made it hard for them to get through us in that first 20 minutes, but the second was where the game got away from us a bit. They had over 30 shots on our net and when that happens, you’re always going to struggle. Penalties were again a key factor and the ones we took in the second were way too cheap.”

In an even first period at the Skydome, it was the Bulldogs who took the lead through Tom Mardell, breaking the deadlock at 16.23, adding to his marker in the 6-3 win over Nottingham the week before.

PRAISE: Bulldogs’ head coach, Andy Brown. Picture: Aerial Alien Photography.

The Blaze levelled through Kent in the 25th minute but found themselves trailing at the next break, too, after Jack Wooding’s power play strike at 37.56 put the Bulldogs ahead once again. 

Soden replied with his first of the night - also on the power play - in the 43rd minute but, just over two minutes later, Lucas Vince scored for the third successive game to put his team ahead for a third time. 

Coventry pushed hard to get back on level terms for a third time and did so when it was perhaps least expected. With the Bulldogs having just gone on a 5-on-3 power play, Soden burst out of his own zone and down the middle before unleashing a cracker of a shot from 20 yards out which flew past Sam Bolwell.

The game looked to be heading for a shoot-out until the Blaze made the most of a 4-on-3 power play in overtime, Kent driving down the middle and blasting past Bolwell from just outside the blue line and into the top corner.

On Sunday, the hosts were missing injured duo Wooding and Declan Kime from the previous night, while Sutton came into The Pound having flown to the top of the standings on the back of scoring 46 goals in their six-game winning start to the season. 

After one period, only an 18th-minute strike from Sam Colton separated the two teams, but the visitors had dominated possession and territory. 

It was a theme which continued into the second, with Bulldogs’ netminder Jake Lowndes producing a quality display to keep his team in contention. 

He was beaten twice from the 33 shots which came his way, first by Ryan Apsley at 24.18 and then captain Lawson Glasby at 31.34 on the power play. 

Another Sting power play strike - this time from player-coach Matt Jeffcock - made it 4-0 at 46.29 before Cameron Glasby rounded off the scoring at 51.49. 

Lowndes deservedly picked up the man-of-the-match award after turning away all but five of the 65 shots that rained down on his net. 

“It was a timely eye-opener for us - on both nights,” added Brown. “I’d like to think that when we play them both later in the season, more so after the turn of the year, we’ll be a lot closer to them and be able to dominate them for periods.”