Bradford Dragons women’s team beat Manchester Slam Dunkin’ Divas 77-12 in their opening game in the National Founders Women’s Cup.

Dragons stormed into a 20-0 lead though the combined efforts of captain Katie Vaines, Sammy Drake, Rachel Tunnacliffe and Natalia Laing plus debutants Lynda Alderson and Dana Kima.

A 23-0 run in the third quarter saw a lopsided score-line of 58-9 and the Divas were outplayed in the final quarter too as the Dragons jumped to the top of the National Founders Cup North League. Drake top-scored with 19 points.

Head coach Mark Gunn – recently appointed as assistant coach with the English Universities women’s team – said: “Prior to the game we expected a challenging fixture, with several key players unavailable due to injury and awaiting international clearance. But this plight was mirrored by Slam Dunkin’ Divas suffering from less depth than us in only fielding seven players.

“On a sad note, we will be losing a player with Marta Wrzalik-Ciesla moving back to Poland. We all wish her the best of luck in her new job and she will be missed.”

The Dragons travel to York Vikings on Thursday in the Leeds & District League.