BRADFORD Dragons started their 2015-16 season with two victories on the road in as many days.

They won 97-84 against Leicester Warriors in the Northern Pool of the National Trophy and 89-81 against Doncaster Danum Eagles in the first round of the National Cup.

Three Dragons players were given their debuts in the midlands – Spanish guard Adria Rodriguez Vinas, formerly of Reading Rockets, and Belgian Henri Bongoma were both in the starting five, while 6ft 6in Polish forward Przemyslaw Wojcik also made a valuable contribution off the bench.

The visitors controlled the majority of the game at Leicester, shooting guard Jermayne Laing – in his third season at the club – top-scoring with an impressive 26 points, while Bongoma contributed 20, Vinas 17 and veteran Jason Swaine 16.

Dragons head coach Chris Mellor said: "I'm happy with the win. We started well at both ends of the court and we controlled the game at our own pace.

"But we made a lot of defensive mistakes and fatigued towards the end, due to the starters having to play big minutes. Leicester are still waiting for key players to arrive but it's something for us to build upon."

Doncaster were promoted to Division Three unbeaten last season, two divisions below Bradford, but the Dragons were expecting a tough game.

Bradford led 26-16 at the first break and 53-34 at half-time – but Doncaster, who included former Dragon Oliver Hylands in their side, were far from finished and, while the Dragons struggled to hit their shots, the hosts strung together nine points unanswered to pull the game back to within five points.

The visitors responded with a run of their own just before the final interval, which they reached 73-62 in front, and although the Eagles had a strong final quarter, Bradford booked a second-round game at English League Division One rivals Manchester Magic.

Swaine topped the scoring with 22 points, while Laing and Bongoma added 18 points each and Vinas 16.

Mellor said: "We knew it would be a very difficult game, so we had the right mentality and I thought we played really well in the first half to be 19 points up.

"They never went away but we always managed to keep our noses in front. On that showing, the Eagles will be very tough opposition for everyone in Division Three this year and I wish them all the best."

The Dragons travel to Middlesbrough to face Tees Valley Mohawks in another National Trophy game this coming Saturday (3pm).

* Eisley Swaine, who is in the Dragons' first-team squad alongside his dad Jason, has been selected for the England under-17 men's horizons national development squad.

Also selected is Jaka Pandza of Leeds Force, while former Dragons player Zion Tordoff (Myerscough College) and Micah Savery-Richards (Leeds Force) are in the England under-18 men's squad. Lydia Hargreaves (Leeds Force) is in the England under-17 women's horizons national development squad.

Meanwhile, Dragons trio Joe Barrett, Jayden Martin and Haben Malcolm-Warner were in the Yorkshire under-15 boys' squad which competed in the National Regional Development Tournament in Sheffield at the weekend.

Yorkshire played four games on Saturday, winning three to reach Sunday's semi-finals, and eventually finished fourth behind the North West, South and London.

The white-rose coaching team also included Dragons duo Sam Messam and Zaman Akbary.