Bradford Dragons travelled to Newcastle for their first away fixture of the season, on Saturday, going down to a 71-58 defeat against Team Northumbria, in the National Trophy.
Dragons started the game slowly, and were down by twelve points (21-9), by the end of the first quarter. However, a much better performance, in the second period of the game, restricted the Newcastle team to only seven points and Bradford went into half-time only three points behind, at 28-25.
Dragons started the game slowly, and were down by twelve points (21-9), by the end of the first quarter. However, a much better performance, in the second period of the game, restricted the Newcastle team to only seven points and Bradford went into half-time only three points behind, at 28-25.
The interval came at just the right time for the home side, as Bradford were clearly in the ascendancy up to that point, giving them the opportunity to regroup and they took control of the game throughout the rest of the match-up. Despite showing the occasional glimmer of hope, the Dragons never managed to match up to Team Northumbria’s superiority and finished the game 13 points adrift (71-58).
Head coach, Chris Mellor said “We were second best in most areas, the big two for me being rebounding and shooting percentages. They (Team Northumbria) played harder than we did and that’s very disappointing. We dug ourselves out of big deficits on a couple of occasions but never really looked like we were going to get in front. They were the better team on the night.”
Team captain, Vance Silcott added “We came out flat and we just couldn't get our shots to drop. The Dragons are well known for their stifling defence, but the defence was nowhere to be seen tonight. Credit where credit is due, Northumbria played well from the start.”
Top scorer for the Dragons, with 18 points, was Rihards Sulcs who also took 13 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season. Miguel Lorenzo scored 12 points, whilst Tamas Szlavik and Vance Silcott netted 9 points each.
Dragons play their final National Trophy pool game next Sunday, at Leicester Warriors, a game which they must win if they are to proceed into the knock out stages of the tournament.
Elsewhere for the Dragons, the under 18’s went down 64-75 against Leeds Force, whilst both the under 16’s and the under 14’s recorded victories against Notts Nova (78-71) and Leeds Force (97-68) respectively.
Head coach, Chris Mellor said “We were second best in most areas, the big two for me being rebounding and shooting percentages. They (Team Northumbria) played harder than we did and that’s very disappointing. We dug ourselves out of big deficits on a couple of occasions but never really looked like we were going to get in front. They were the better team on the night.”
Team captain, Vance Silcott added “We came out flat and we just couldn't get our shots to drop. The Dragons are well known for their stifling defence, but the defence was nowhere to be seen tonight. Credit where credit is due, Northumbria played well from the start.”
Top scorer for the Dragons, with 18 points, was Rihards Sulcs who also took 13 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season. Miguel Lorenzo scored 12 points, whilst Tamas Szlavik and Vance Silcott netted 9 points each.
Dragons play their final National Trophy pool game next Sunday, at Leicester Warriors, a game which they must win if they are to proceed into the knock out stages of the tournament.
Elsewhere for the Dragons, the under 18’s went down 64-75 against Leeds Force, whilst both the under 16’s and the under 14’s recorded victories against Notts Nova (78-71) and Leeds Force (97-68) respectively.
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