Bulldogs’ Junior Review - Under-12s through to Under-18s

HEROES (clockwise from top left): Evan Bulmer (Under-12s Hardest Worker); Dan Johns (U-18s Spirit of the Game); Jacob Mardell (U-16 Spirit of the Game), Alexander Szwajcar (U-12s Spirit of the Game) and Timur Sprogis (U-14 Spirit of the Game).

IT was another hectic weekend for the Bulldogs’ Junior teams, with four of them in action in the wind down to the festive season. 

The Under-18s were involved in an 11-goal thriller in Altrincham on Sunday against hosts Manchester Storm. 

Going behind to a Jayson Burgess redirect in the ninth-minute, the Bulldogs got on level terms before the break when Danny Harrison guided the puck past Owen Severn from close range at 17.33 for a power play goal. 

Just before the halfway mark, Josh Milnes restored the hosts lead but his strike was cancelled quickly when Riley Carlisle jammed the puck home from in close after Josh Guy’s initial shot was saved. 

But Milnes was just as quick to make it 3-2 when he was awarded a penalty shot after being tripped when through on goal, firing the puck into Jacob Mardell’s top left-hand corner at 31.17. 

The lead was doubled just over a minute later when Oliver Gotts forced the puck home after Burgess’s initial shot had been saved. 

It became a one-goal game again before the end of the period, however, when Harrison was released down the middle by Lydia Lutwyche and fired home into the roof of the net at 38.57. 

FOUR-GOAL CONCLUSION: Under-18s captain Danny Harrison scored four goals in the 6-5 defeat at Manchester. Picture: All Sports Photography.

Only 22 seconds of the third period had elapsed before the Bulldogs were level, Alisha Potts sending Harrison off down the right before he cut in and beat the goalie at the near post. 

Milnes matched Harrison’s hat-trick exploits for the Storm when putting his team 5-4 ahead in the 49th minute before Leo Cooper gave his team some welcome breathing space when he went coast-to-coast in the 55th minute.
Dan Johns - who was awarded the Bulldogs’ Spirit of the Game award afterwards - had what looked like a legitimate goal washed off shortly before Harrison bagged a fourth when he backhanded home from a tight angle at 57.17. 

But that was close as the visitors got, missing out on a deserved share of the spoils.

The day before, the Under-16s headed east to take on Kingston Sharks, both teams producing a competitive derby before the hosts deservedly ran out 7-1 winners. 

The Sharks dominated the first two periods in terms of possession and shots, but the Bulldogs were still in the game at 2-1 down with just over 12 minutes left to play. 

Charlie Farrow got the visitors on the board in the 24th minute, his effort sandwiched in between strikes from Will Durgan and Beau Reeder for the hosts. 

But three goals in two minutes early in the third settled the outcome, Durgan doubling his tally before William Leach and Reeder found the net. 

George Sibarry made it 6-1 before Daniel Dowd rounded off the scoring with just over a minute remaining.
Bulldogs’ nettie Jacob Mardell picked up the Spirit of the Game award, turning away 53 of the 60 shots on his net. 

Sunday saw the Under-14s head west and after one period they trailed 3-1, with Timur Sprogis’s 11th-minute strike the Bulldogs’ response to a Leighton Williams hat-trick. 

The hosts pulled clear after the breakthrough strikes from Poppy Ward, a fourth for Williams and a 24th-minute strike from Jakub Henryk Jacyszyn. 

Further goals arrived in the third from Dexter Bailey, Theo Yates, Jaydenm Turton, Williams - with his fifth - and Dexter Ashdown. 

The final word fell to the Bulldogs’ however, when Denver Wilcox bagged his first Under-14s goal with just 22 seconds remaining, Timur Sprogis being awarded the Spirit of the Game award. 

Bulldogs;’ Under-12s battled hard on their visit to Solihull Junior Barons, but were unable to find a response to their hosts, who ran out 8-0 winners. 

Mason Wilmott led the way for the Barons with a first-period hat-trick, being joined on the scoresheet by Jackson Dudley, Guy Teeple and William Newton. 

Michael Drummond made it 7-0 early in the second period before Wilmott’s fourth rounded off the scoring for the win. 

Evan Bulmer got the Bulldogs’ hardest Worker helmet, while Alexander Szwajcar picked up the Spirit of the Game award for the visitors.