ANDY BROWN believes he saw positive signs for Bradford Bulldogs which could serve them well as they look to snap a nine-game losing streak at Billingham Buccaneers on Sunday.

The Bulldogs came off second-best when going down 9-2 at home to Telford Tigers last weekend, the visitors maintaining their status as the only team in NIHL North Two with a 100 per cent regular season record in 2023-24.

This weekend’s trip to the North East offers an opportunity for the Bulldogs to build on the positives from the Telford defeat - of which, despite the scoreline, there were numerous, according to head coach Brown.

“I felt we played much better as a team against Telford last weekend, which was promising as they are the best team in this league without question,” said Brown, whose team lost 14-4 in Telford just three weeks earlier.

“Now I want us to build on that this weekend in Billingham because I know we can get back to playing the kind of hockey that brought us success early in the season.”

That ‘success’ brought wins in the opening two games for the Bulldogs, but now they find themselves third-bottom in the regular season standings and without a win since September 24, when they beat Nottingham Lions 6-3 at home.

One of the nine defeats that have followed their rare taste of success was against Billingham who, along with bottom club Kingston Sharks, newcomers to the league this season.

The Buccaneers were deserved 7-2 winners at The Pound almost two weeks ago and have thrived in their debut season and currently sit fourth in the table.

After their win in Bradford they pushed Telford close before losing out 4-2 in Shropshire last Saturday before thumping Nottingham 11-2 on home ice the following day.

For a few minutes against Telford the Bulldogs threatened a major upset on Sunday when they went 1-0 up with just 57 seconds on the clock through a breakaway goal from Lucas Vince.

But, by the time the first intermission came around, Telford were 4-1 ahead, the visitors strengthening their grip on the game with two more goals in the second.

A Declan Kime strike at 40.44 briefly threatened a comeback from the home side before Telford closed out the game with three further goals.

Charlie Hammerton was the star for the Tigers with a hat-trick, while Oli Hunt and Callum Griffin weighed in with two apiece, the other goals coming from Liam Bartholemew and Filip Supa.