Bulldogs’ Juniors Review: Hard lessons learned across weekend

ON TARGET: Tom Mardell (left), Jonas Mtethwa and Sam Bain were among the goals for their respective teams last weekend.

IT proved another tough weekend for Bradford Bulldogs’ junior teams, three games producing three losses.

The Under-12s were forced to forfeit the points against local rivals Leeds Junior Knights due to their netminder being unavailable to play shortly before the game was due to face-off.

The teams still played out a ‘challenge’ game at Bradford Ice Arena anyway, with the visitors running out 8-1 winners, Joshua Mtethwa grabbing the Bulldogs’ goal.

Shortly after, the Under-16s took to the ice, hoping to bounce back from their 10- defeat on home ice to Leeds the previous weekend.

Having enjoyed a deserved 7-2 victory in Coventry Blaze earlier in the season, the Bulldogs were keen to do the double over their West Midlands rivals, but they found themselves trailing 2-0 after the first 15 minutes following strikes from George Tarr and Zachary Baker.

It got worse for the hosts in the middle section, the visitors extending their lead through a second for Tarr at 16.16 before Oliver Podgorski made it 4-0 at 26.29.

Any hope Bradford have of getting back in to the game disappeared when they fell further behind through an Aaron Larner strike at 36.31. 

There was eventually something for the home team to cheer when, with just 40 seconds remaining, Sam Bain got himself in the right place to score his first competitive goal and ensure the hosts didn’t suffer a shut-out.

On Sunday, the Under-18s entertained a Sheffield team they had pushed close in South Yorkshire before eventually going own 7-5.

But it was a different story in West Yorkshire, the visitors setting the tone early on with Callum Preston’s goal coming under heavy fire from the first puck drop.

The deadlock was eventually broken Oliver Wagg at 12.42, after which the floodgates opened to leave the hosts trailing 6-0 at the first break following further strikes from Jason Jia, Sam Keeling, Wagg (2) and Eddie Harper.

Tom Mardell pulled one back for the Bulldogs at 24.34, but a short-handed strike just under two minutes later by Keeling resotred the six-goal advantage.

Daragh Spawforth fired home a power play marker at 27.10 but, thereafter, it was all Sheffield, who went in 13-2 ahead at the second intermission following goals from Wagg, Ethan Scholey, Gabe Fisher, Euan Williams, Jacob Brammer and a hat-trick marker for Keeling.

Brammer completed a comprehensive 14-2 victory with his second of the game just 55 seconds into the third period.