Saturday 1st December 2012: Cheadle Thunder 23 - 18 TV Spartans
Half time score: Cheadle Thunder 10 - 9 TV Spartans
A cracking game that wasn't settled until the last 30 seconds, and a good win for Thunder against top-of-the-table Spartans.
Last week saw Thunder lose their game against Heaton Falcons right at the start: Falcons had opened up a 12 point lead at half time and although a much stronger Thunder performance in the second half pulled it back to a five point game, it wasn't enough.
This week, five man Thunder took on Spartan's eight man squad and it was always going to be a tough one if they'd fallen behind.
The first half was neck-and-neck as first one side and then the other opened up one or two point leads. Thunder played superbly, working hard to neutralise the two taller Spartans players, harrying at every opportunity. The defending was strong - Thunder have really got the hang of closing down the opposition and playing a physical game.
At the other end, Cheadle struggled to break down a well-disciplined Spartan defence, but scoring on the break plus a couple of well-taken longer shots saw Thunder go into the second half with a critical one point lead.
The second half was nearly as tight, but despite having no subs, it was Thunder who looked the livelier team. As errors started to creep into Spartan's game, Thunder stayed ahead by between two and six points.
Towards the end our master tactician and coach Barry made sure Thunder slowed the game down - forcing more errors and fouls from Spartans that resulted in Joe securing a few more points from free throws at the end.
Man of the match goes to Joe, scoring 16 points - one of those happy days where everything seemed to go in. Sol's shooting was good and Joshua was particularly strong in defence, making life very difficult for Jay - their big number 34. Matt and Tom's work was superb - quick passing, strong defence and lots of interceptions stopped Spartans playing the game they wanted to.
Spartan's strongest players were their top scorer #10 (Dan) and the two taller players #34 (Jay) and #7 (Ravi).
Points scored: Joe - 16, Sol 5, Josh 2.
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