Bradford Dragons made the long journey to Essex for their latest National Trophy pool game and came away with a 76-68 win after a gutsy second-half performance.

The Dragons defence struggled to contain the home side and trailed 22-17 at the first break, and although the second period was a little more even, the Dragons went into the locker room trailing 40-33 at half-time.

In the third stanza, the Dragons began to tame the Leopards and the offence fired into life as Dan Foley led all scorers on his way to an 18-point game-high score.

After winning the third quarter by six, the Leopards lead had reduced to a single point as the Dragons took control of the game in the final quarter.

Dragons' coach Chris Mellor said: "I wasn’t happy with what we were doing in the first half at both ends of the floor but I was really pleased after the break with our toughness defensively and the way we stayed composed offensively."

Foley apart, Carl Pearson weighed in with 15 for the Dragons and Daumants Pabrieza scored ten points.

Elsewhere for the Dragons, their under-14s started the season with a convincing 82-43 home win against Barrow Thorns, while Bradford College Dragons under-16s bounced back from an opening defeat at Hull to beat Hull Wasps under-16s in an English Basketball League Junior National League home game.

Dragons' first team have a home double header at the weekend at Trinity Green sports hall, Bradford College, Trinity Road, Bradford BD5 0JE.

They play Tees Valley Mohawks in the National Trophy on Saturday (6.15pm) and Huddersfield Heat on Sunday in the second round of the National Cup (6.45pm).

 Admission is £5 for adults, £2.50 for under-16s, concessions and students, while a family ticket [adults plus two children] are £10. Admission is free for Dragons' club members.