Bradford Bulldogs fell to a harsh 4-1 defeat at home to Flintshire Freeze.

After a string of fine saves by both netminders had kept the first period scoreless, Flintshire upped the pressure and it paid off with two goals in six minutes.

Bulldogs showed fighting spirit though and they got their reward with four minutes left of the second period when in-form forward Aaron Dad picked up a lose puck and fired home.

This inspired the hosts and they had several chances to get an equaliser but were denied by the visitors’ netminder.

Two more quick goals in the third period put paid to a Bulldogs comeback and things then got ugly in the last few minutes. Steven Butler was dismissed for fighting and netminder Jonny Brown followed him for incitement.

Bradford can nevertheless take heart from this performance when they return to action on January 4 at home to Manchester.

Meanwhile, the under-14s continued their fine start to the season with a 16-2 win against Coventry which keeps them top of the league. They travel to Newcastle on Saturday in a potential title decider.