U13: Bradford 19 - Coventry 2

Last year, the Coventry game was the closest of the season. The team  came close to doing what no other team could, as they almost beat the mighty Bulldogs.This game turned out to be a different proposition. Bradford came out strong in the first period, dominating the possession throughout and although we conceded penalty minutes, Bradford remained l the stronger team, even scoring short handed goals.Coventry never really threatened to score in this period with the Bradford defensive line holding strong  on the occasional breakout.No 21 Alex Graham, with his clinical finishing and shots from impossible angles, left Coventry trailing at the end of the first period 8-0.The second period started in much the same way as the first, ending with Bradford dominating possession and shots on goal and some good team work. The passing game looked good for Bradford, whilst Coventry must have felt like they were chasing ghosts, on occasions looking frustrated.  At one point Bradford had players lining up to take shots with No 11 defence player, Alex Lutwyche, hitting his big blue line slap shots (hit and hopes) looking for his first goal of the season.The period ended 16-0.Achieving such a high score, however, seemed to be the undoing of Bradford for the final period, with players going for glory and playing more as individuals with the resulting passing rate significantly dropping.  This allowed Coventry back into the game with 2 goals in the period and only 3 from Bradford. But in truth even with 3 on 5 for part of this period, Bradford still looked like the stronger team. The goals from Coventry had more to do with the Bradford defence pushing forward and being caught out of position.Coventry put up a good effort but quite simply couldn't deal with the sniper like accuracy of Alex Graham and the stronger Bradford team, both offensively and the excellent defence.Final Score 19:2