Bradford began their assault on the second half of the Yorkshire League season in confident mood after the winter break with a 2-1 home win over Doncaster 3rd XI.

Both teams played good open hockey in the early exchanges, with Bradford looking the more dangerous on the break, but Doncaster showed a steadier discipline in their build-ups.

The visitors' confident display, however, was exposed at the back as the fast Bradford forward line of Mark Backhouse, Richard Harpin and Mark Hammond began to exploit the weaknesses.

In the 17th minute, good work by Bradford's Steve Thomas in midfield and Tim Brickell opened a gap for Harpin, who found Hammond unmarked on the left of the circle, and fired the ball past goalkeeper Paul Hatton with a reverse sweep from close range.

Doncaster tried to hit back with steady, confident approach play, but without looking dangerous around the Bradford circle until a mistake by Jaspal Panesar allowed them through for an equaliser in the 26th minute.

This time it was Bradford who patiently led themselves back into the game, and after half-time began to dominate in all areas, with Backhouse causing much of the trouble with his runs down the right flank. In the 50th minute he completed a good performance with a narrow angle flick from the byline into the net.

Several more opportunities opened up for Bradford as they continued to dominate, though none resulted in goals.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.