Highs and lows for Bulldogs NIHL while Under-16s continue fine start
IT proved to be a mixed bag for Bradford Bulldogs at the weekend as they had to settle for two points from a possible four in NIHL North Two.
A 3-1 defeat in a closely-fought game at Sheffield Titans was quickly forgotten about when Andy Brown’s players hit back the following day when securing a 5-3 win on home ice against Coventry Blaze.
The victory was even more welcome as it helped cancel out the 4-1 defeat the Bulldogs endured in Coventry last month.
It was clinical finishing in the first period which allowed the Bulldogs to build what proved an unassailable lead at home to Coventry.
Just over two minutes had elapsed when Archie Grayson forced the puck home from close range and it was just over two minutes later when he doubled his and his team’s tally when he fired through traffic from the right circle.
Teenage goalie Ryan Wardell, given his first start of the season, found his goal coming under pressure during the latter stages of the first, but he stood tall before Coventry were made to pay for not being more clinical when Lucas Vince made it 3-0 with 17.33 on the clock.
Only 46 seconds of the second had elapsed, however, when Coventry got themselves back in the game, making a power play count with Ben Darbyshire in the box on a delay of game call at the end of the first, when Connor Mellett found the net.
But the Bulldogs made the most of their own power play opportunity just after the halfway mark when Jack Wooding forced the puck home from close range to restore the three-goal lead.
In and almost carbon copy of the start of the second period, Coventry again hit back early after the restart, this time only 16 seconds hd passed before they were on the board again, Daniel Kent finding a way past the impressive Wardell.
Wardell’s goal came under relentless pressure at times, but the 17-year-old remained solid, although another power play opportunity presented the visitors with a chance to make it a one-goal game when Medley was called for delay of game.
But the Bulldogs’ penalty kill unit came up trumps. Josh Stockton threw the puck down the right boards, from where Lucas Vince won the race to retrieve it before feeding it back to Stockton in center ice. He then proceeded to weave his way through the Blaze defence before rounding netminder Hayen Laverick and back-handling the puck home for a 5-2 lead at 55.42.
Jodie Alderson-Smith pulled one back with 74 seconds remaining, but that was as close as the visitors got, the Bulldogs making it two wins from two on home ice. D-man Ben Darbyshire got the Bulldogs' MOM.
At Ice Sheffield the previous day, only 69 seconds had gone before the Bulldogs found themselves chasing the game, Ben Cutts putting the Titans ahead.
It was proving to be a fairly even encounter, with both goalies - Sam Bolwell for the Bulldogs - kept busy.
And it wasn’t until just before the halfway mark that the next goal game, the Bulldogs getting back on level terms through a power play strike from Medley.
But it wasn’t long before the hosts got their noses in front again, Ben Roebuck firing past Bolwell on a delayed penalty at 30.28.
That was how it stayed until late on when, with the Bulldogs pushing for an equaliser, a boarding call on Wooding gave the Titans an opportunity to kill the game, this they did when Sam Keeling slotted home with 93 seconds remaining.
Bulldogs 16s make it three from three for the season
BULLDOGS' Under-16s maintained their 100 per cent start to their Division One campaign with a 7-2 win at Coventry on Saturday.
It comes on the back of an 8-5 win at Hull and a 5-2 win at Whitley Bay, but the latest victory came at a cost with injuries to Charley Farr (knee) and Harrison Booth (concussion), the latter being ruled out for up to a month.
A poor start saw Coventry take the lead through Aaron Larner when he beat Jacob Midgley after cutting in from the left but, thereafter, it was all Bulldogs, who got themselves 3-1 ahead by the first period break, captain Daragh Spawforth and MacKenzie Barker soon had the visitors ahead with two goals inside a minute before Danny Harrison benefitted from a pinpoint cross-ice pass from Booth before breaking clear and beating goalie Elliott Russan over his left shoulder.
Frank O'Sullivan made it 4-1 just over three minutes into the second with a smart finish following good build-up play from Spawforth and Tyler Hall and although Coventry got themselves back in the game through Ben Howdle at 20.23, that was as close as they got.
Spawforth made it 5-2 at 26.57 and completed a deserved hat-trick just over two minutes later on a delayed penalty.
The Bulldogs continued to dominate, out-shooting their hosts 53-13 on the day, but only one more goal came, Will Durgan pouncing ona rebound on a parried Barker shot to make it 7-2 at 42.37.