BRADFORD Dragons found Manchester Magic a tough nut to crack again as an 80-64 defeat across the Pennines proved.

Manchester have enjoyed the better of fixtures between the two teams over the past couple of seasons and this one was no different, although an injury to Ricky Fetske did not help the cause.

Lee Goldsbrough hit the game's first points for Magic but Fetske was as reliable as ever for Bradford and quickly levelled the scores.

Neither team managed to take a hold of the contest during the opening quarter as they matched each other point for point and by the end, the Dragons just had the edge at 19-18.

The second quarter followed a similar pattern, with both teams holding their own. Then with just over half the period played, Fetske collided with Manchester opponent Simon Anumba.

The referees call a time-out to allow the Bradford player to receive medical attention. The American left the court suffering with concussion and played no further part.

With Fetske replaced on court by Semi Eboigbe, the Dragons continued to work hard and held Manchester close. When the teams left the court at half-time, the hosts had just managed to open up a four-point gap as they led 35-31.

It was in the third period that Bradford lost the game, managing a mere 13 points and allowing Magic to extend their lead to 18, going into the final phase 62-44 down.

With five minutes remaining, the Dragons picked up a defensive rebound and long-serving Rihards Sulcs made no mistake with his lay-up to pull the deficit back to just 12 points.

This gave the travelling fans hope of a grand recovery but it was not to be as the home side regained control and put the game to bed.

Latvian star Sulcs headed the Bradford scorers with 13 points and, despite his early exit, Fetske followed him on 11. Fellow American player Marcus Gooding hit ten points, as did Dwayne Camille. Duane Morgan hit the game high with 23 points for Manchester.

Dragons coach Chris Mellor reflected: "We played okay in the first half but the game got away from us in the third and we never really recovered.

"Their defence stepped up and they created some transition scores but I was disappointed with our second-half display."

Bradford now face a home double-header with league games against Leicester Warriors on Saturday, followed by Hemel Storm on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the juniors' only fixture last weekend saw the Dragons under-18s triumph 71-43 at Durham Wildcats.

The club's under-16s have been confirmed as winners of the North East Division of the Junior National Basketball League for their age group, beating Sheffield Eagles to the title on points difference.