CT v Southside Flyers 10/12/2011

First Half:

Flyers made a start to match their name. For the first 5 minutes of the game Cheadle couldn't keep hold of the ball, letting SF score some easy baskets. After Andy called a time-out, CT pulled themselves together in defence. They made the effort to get back quickly when SF went on the attack so that only SF's brilliant #5 had the skill to break through. There was some aggresive man-on-man defence here from Sean, and good transition play by Sol, breaking out of the pack and outrunning the opposition down the court.

Sean and Joe made CT's first 2 baskets in the 16th minute, but at this point the CT defence seemed to break down. The half ended with SF taking 10 more points in 3 minutes, despite some outstanding rebound work (and a basket) from “Boomerang” and some sharp drives from Joe.

Half time Score: SF 28 - 6 CT

Second Half:

CT started well with Matt F first to score. Cheadle looked good defensively and kept their opponents out of the key. With SF #5 off court the Flyers found it hard to score, and were reduced to making wild long-shots. CT weren't so successful in attack, but Sol foxed the SF defence to make two baskets - the first a second was a classic following a great pass from Sean out of a scrum of players.

The return of SF #5 to the court with a 3-point shot seemed to knock CT's confidence, and for the last 5 minutes the Cheadle defence fell apart; there was some tired looking play that allowed SF a further 10 points in the last minutes. Kudos to Harry here for flying up and down the court right to the final seconds.

Final Score: SF 47 - 12 CT.

Stats:

CT: Sol 4; Matt F, Matt A, Joe, Sean - 2 each.

SF: #5 - 22; #8 - 8; #6, #9 6 each; #7 -3; #14 - 2.

Pros and Cons:

CT often looked good in this game. Although sleepy play at the start of the match let SF take a quick lead, Cheadle recovered well and put their game back together. There were some weak points in the match, at the ends of both halves CT gave up coordinated defence and just followed the ball - the result being more scores from SF. But the first 15 minutes of second half showed that with the right strategy CT could halt the SF attack - waking up at the beginning and sticking to the defensive plan right to the end of the game could make this team beatable.

Man of the Match:

For me, it was Sol. We know he's fast but in this match he really showed he could use that speed and drive right to the net.

Pictures:

See the Gallery for new pics of this game!

Match on 10/12/11 at 8:30:

Sorry, I can't make it. I'll be back the week after. Let me know the news

CT v. NR Dynamos 26/11/11

This was a difficult game for Cheadle against an older and very skilful team. Dynamos took control from the tip and kept up a high scoring rate from the tip-off with #5 and #13 taking the lead role in the attack in the first half, and #10 and #0 in the second half.

CT did put some effort into defence. At the 10 minute mark this seemed to be holding NRD back on a man-to-man basis - it looked scruffy but it seemed to work. But in the long run the Cheadle lacked the coordination needed to stop their opponents' confident attacking manoeuvres.

The Dynamos' defence, on the other hand, was united and well drilled. CT players rarely got close enough to the hoop to score though there were some valiant attempts, and kudos to Josh for his baskets in the final minutes of both halves.

Final score: CT - 2: NR Dynamos - 77

Stats:

CT: Josh - 4

NRD: #13 - 21;#5, #6, #10 - 10 each; #8 - 2 

Post Mortem:

Most of us on the supporters bench thought that CT put up a much better show this week than last - though this wasn't reflected in the score. Sean's absence due to injury highlighted the team's tendency to rely too much on one player and the reluctance of some players to drive and shoot.

But the main difference for the big points difference in this game was surely CT's disorganised defence.

On the other hand, everyone was making more effort this week, and it was a big improvement on the last game.