CT v. Thames Valley Spartans 22/9/12

Match Summary:

Cheadle won control of the ball straight away and Sean took a field goal in the first minute. Spartans were quick to fight back, and with the giant #34 and tiny #14 making most of the play they were soon ahead and forcing Cheadle's foul-count to the limit. Nevertheless, for most of the first half Cheadle had their share of the play, defended reasonably well, but looked shaky in attack. With Usual Suspect (Josh) away for the game there seemed to be a reluctance to attempt a drive into the key against solid TVS defence.

At the end of the first half Cheadle's game started to fall apart, and it didn't come together again throughout the second half, and at times Cheadle seemed to be playing “every man for himself”. A lot of shots were made, but most of them very long, and few of them went in. TVS meanwhile ran rings around what was left of Cheadle's defence and scored freely. Not a great show.

Final score: Thames Valley Spartans 35: 10 Cheadle Thunder

Stats:

(Not very accurate this as I missed a couple of minutes of the second half..)

Points: Sean - 6, Joe - 4.

Shots: Sean - 11, Joe - 4, Karl - 9, Sol - 4, Matt - 4, Tom - 1.

TVS #34, 14, 22, 23 were the strongest players.

Boomerang Award:

The BA goes to Matt this week with 6.

Not a lot of action this week on the rebound, especially in the second half. With a team that usually scores when they get the ball that's a mistake we can't afford to make.

Special Mentions:

Well done to Karl for defensive play in the second half when the rest of the team had run out of energy. 

Sean was hot on interceptions and steals; at one point stealing from giant #34, making the transition and scoring. Way to go!

CT v Heaton Hawks 15/9/12

First Half:

Cheadle made a flying start. Josh won the tip. Before the Hawks had touched the ball Sean made a basket in the first minute, followed by another a minute later.

For the next 5 minutes Cheadle kept on the attack. Good rebound work and interceptions gave them most of play against a determined but defensive opposition. Then the Hawks finally ground into attack. Their forwards, #12 and #30, presented the big problem for Cheadle, both of them accurate shots and tall enough to play over CT's heads. Despite some active defence from CT, Hawks coordinated well to get the ball to these two players and gradually pulled ahead.

Half Time score: Cheadle - 8: 13 - Heaton Hawks.

Second Half:

Second half began with CT caught on the wrong foot, #10 making a quick score pretty much unopposed. But strong defensive play by Matt and Josh soon blunted the Hawks' attack. CT took control of the court, and took their opportunities. A great basket from Sol and a cool sequence of 3 from Joe put CT ahead in the 7th minute, 16:15.

Then Cheadle let #12 score easily in a moment of relaxation. All of a sudden Hawks were back in the game, #12 and #10 pushing their score up to 23 before CT found their feet again. And it was a great recovery: the lads were fighting for every ball, going after every rebound and really working as a team. 2 baskets from Sean and another 2 from Joe put Cheadle ahead 25:23. with just 3 minutes left of the game.

The final 3 minutes left supporters gasping, cheering, and sobbing. Cheadle had plenty of chances, but forgot to watch out for the Hawks' main chance, #30. He just hung around at low post on his lonesome and waited for the ball to come to him. It did, twice, giving Heaton Hawks the game.

Final Score: Cheadle - 25: 27 - Heaton Hawks.

Stats:

Cheadle:

Points: Joe - 10; Sean - 8; Josh - 4; Sol - 3.

Shots: Joe - 12; Sean -10; Josh - 6; Sol - 9; Matt 5; Tom - 3: Karl - 2.

HH:

Shots: #30 - 10; #12 - 8; #10 - 4; #7 - 2; #5 - 1. (I suspect the missing 2 pts were #12)

Special Mentions:

Defence Award: goes to Josh for his aggressive, physical marking of #30; without it HH could have rolled over us in the first half. That #30 eventually lost his temper and made an outrageous foul against you just shows how well it worked, Josh! More, please, everyone.

Transitions: Sol was back in blinding Super-Colliding form in the second half, getting the ball up court before the Hawks had turned on their particle detectors. A huge contribution to the catch up in the second half.

Interceptions: Joe and Sean looking smart this week.

BOOMERANG AWARD:

Joe takes the Aboriginal stick this week with 8 rebounds, 2 up on last week. (Josh and Matt weren't far behind. Overall improvement since last week - 6)

Bob's Thoughts:

We could have won this match and we should have. The main problem for us was #30 and #12, two players who were tall and could shoot. What we didn't do was take advantage of their weaknesses. #12 (the tall dark kid) was muscular and quite fast, but his mobility was poor - if there was a player in the way he generally couldn't get past. #30 was just plain lazy, waiting for the rest of the team to send him the ball. Josh did a great job marking him. If someone else had done the same job when Josh was off court we'd have won the match.

C U L8ER, ANDY & HARRY:

Very sadly Andy has had to step down from his role as the coaching team, due to work.

Many, many thanks from me and Tom (and I'm sure from everyone involved with the team too) for all that you've done over the years. We may not have said it too often but we're very grateful. Good luck with getting the bank-balance in order.

And so-long to Harry too! I'll miss those amazing pursuits down court, H. I never did work out how you went so fast without moving your legs.

Don't be afraid to come back and see us, both of you, and all the best,

Bob

CT v Lapwings2 9/9/12

First Half:

In an exciting start to the match Sean won the tip for Cheadle and Sol took the ball down for a shot in the first few seconds, catching Lapwings out and promising a good match. But Lapwings took the rebound, quickly recovered, and only Harry was fast enough to catch up with #8 before she scored a few seconds later.

This set the trend for a difficult first half for CT. Though there was some good play from the lads, there just didn't seem to be enough of it in defence to stop #6 and #14 scoring or enough in attack to convert some good transitions into baskets. Too often both attack and defence were left to just one player, as if the team hadn't seen each other for weeks!

Nevertheless, it wasn't a complete walkover, CT had their share of possession. Best basket came early from Josh - a good drive into the key straight through Lapwings' defences and a simple, neat layup. Classical! Sean (x2) and Joe scored too.

Half-time score: Lapwings 25: 8 Cheadle

Second Half:

CT started in high style with an aggressive attack leaving Lapwings outrun and outwitted from the whistle. Sol took the throw-in; Sean took the ball up-court and made a good pass to Joe cross-court; Joe drove into the key and it was in the hoop a few seconds later. Whoa, Smartypants!

A great start, and the lads kept up the pressure. Cheadle missed a few rebounds (we miss you, Boomerang!) but some great work from Matt on interceptions gave Cheadle most of ball and most of the baskets. Joe, Sol(x2) and Tom took the score to 27:18 at 10 minutes: CT had added 10 points for Lapwings 2!

In the next 7 minutes Lapwings got back into the game with tiny #11 and enormous, blonde #14 making most of the play. Cheadle defence was slow to respond at first. Kudos to Tom for repeated tackles on #14, slowing down her score rate, but with 3 minutes to go Lapwings had re-established their lead at 39:24. Though Cheadle attacked well and kept possession the girls tightened up their defence and held onto their lead.

Final score: Lapwings 43: 26 Cheadle

Stats:

Points: Joe - 10; Josh - 6; Sol, Sean, Tom - 4 each.

Shots: Sean, Joe - 10 each; Sol, Josh - 5 each; Dan, Tom -3 each. (accuracy not guaranteed here!)

Couldn't keep track of Lapwings' scores but their most dangerous players were #14, #6 and #11.

Special Mentions:

Matt for some brilliant interception; Harry for speed in defence; Tom for taking on #14 - in one tussle she lifted him off his feet by the ball; very nasty.

BOOMERANG AWARD!

Josh, Joe and Sol tie with 6 rebounds each, but a lot of rebounds missed in this match. Everybody needs to be looking for the rebound (you know who you are!). Let's see a bit more contention for the award this week.

See you on Saturday,

Bob.

Fixtures and News

Fixtures:

8th	September	03:10 PM	v Lapwings 2
15th	September	10:10 AM	v Heaton Hawks
22nd	September	11:50 AM	v TV Spartans
29th	September	11:50 AM	v Southside Hornets
6th	October		PLAY-OFFS

Match Saturday 2/9/12

Only 2 Cheadle players turned up, plus Andy. Dynamic Allstars had about 8 players - obviously so dedicated they don't go on holiday.

So Tom and Matt F played in a scratch team with the help of a couple of wandering players, the smallest of Allstars and Tom the ref. It was a bit of an odd team varying from over 6 ft tall to under 4 ft! Never mind, it was a game. Allstars won by about 50 to 35.

Bye-Bye Boomerang:

We'll all miss you, Matt, especially in the key. Can't see that kicking a ball is ever going to catch on, but good luck with the football anyway.

And thanks to Dave for his scoring and stand-in coaching over the years.

News from Me:

I've not been keeping you updated because I was a bit busy last term, but hope to keep up to date this term. Apologies to my very many fans.

I'm thinking, in honour of absent friends, to start presenting “The Boomerang Award” every week for player who does best on the rebound. Cheadle expects every man to do his duty!

See you Saturday,

Bob