w/e 17/04/05 Warriors through to Playoff Final after big away win at Mansfield 70 - 63 In the biggest game in UH West Herts Warriors history, the Hatfield based team had the task of defending a 13 point lead built up in the home leg of the 2 game playoff semi final series. Having beaten Mansfield on their own court in their penultimate regular season fixture, hopes were high that a repeat performance could be had to send West Herts to their first final in the team’s brief 2 year history. With the same personnel available to both teams bar Warriors Terry Rose being available again, and Martin Dyke being abroad, it was a game that Coach Harrison was looking to win, rather than just lose by a few points. Sadly Warriors leading scorer, Tayo Odulaja could not make the tip off time due to work commitments, and arrived at the game during the second quarter. Mansfield Express had a vocal crowd behind them that rallied them to a strong start as expected. Martin Blankley opened the scoring inside, with his opposite marker Rafe Abrook countering with 2 free throws of his own to tie the score, with Craig Tye scoring his first 2 of the match off a jump shot on the next trip down court. Fellow Express big man Lee English then gathered up an offensive rebound to put 2 more on the board for Mansfield followed shortly by a Matt Shaw three pointer, to put Express up 7 – 4. Tye scored again for Warriors followed by 2 more for English inside, which was countered by a three for in form Warriors point guard Luke Patterson. With a score from Mansfield’s Jamie McGaffin, and 2 more for Tye, and Sahr Komba, Warriors held a slim 13 – 11 advantage. Then points dried up for West Herts as they went scoreless for 3 minutes and allowed 2 more Shaw three pointers to find the net, with Elland and Blankley also combining to end the first quarter with Express up 21 – 13. Warriors were able to get momentum back in the second quarter with captain, Craig Tye scoring 5 straight points off tough drives to the hoop, and with Warriors trademark pressure defence stepping up a notch, Mansfield were only able to score from the foul line from the start of the second quarter until late into the eighth minute when Blankley found a way through inside. Meanwhile 3 pts from Marlon Munro, and scores for Patterson, Komba and Abrook pulled West Herts to within one point at 27 – 28. Unfortunately, in giving Express 18 free throw opportunities in the second quarter alone, players such as Munro and Jock Mackay were getting into foul trouble, and the shots from the charity stripe enabled Mansfield to keep their noses ahead. Baskets by Komba and Christiaan ter Steege at the end of the first half pulled the score back to 31 – 33 at the interval. With Warriors still in control of the 2 match series thanks to their now 11pt aggregate advantage, there was no panic in the dressing room at halftime, although despite some promising defence, the Warriors offence had yet to get flowing. After Blankley opened the half for 2, Odulaja’s first shot of the game was a three pointer that was all net. This was followed by a drive for Tye, and 2 more free throws, while Shaw collected his fourth three of the game for Mansfield. With the defence on Shaw being as tight as ever, with Warriors big men rotating to help, West Herts were once again able to hold Express without a field goal for another long 4 minute period. Ter Steege was able to draw fouls under the hoop with strong post play, and Patterson and Odulaja scored off fast break baskets from forced Mansfield turnovers. Meanwhile Abrook was able to contain Blankleys offence with physical defence in the post and aggressive rebounding. The most impressive stat of the day was Warriors holding Express to just 5 made field goals during the whole of the second and third quarters combined! The third quarter ended with an Odulaja fast break slam to put West Herts up 46 – 44. Warriors had one final 10 minute quarter separating them from a place in the final, yet despite a strong start with Abrook picking up 2 inside, followed by another Odulaja three, Express then mounted another run through Blankley and McGaffin, who tied the score with 6 minutes to play. A fast break slam off a turnover for Abrook gave Warriors momentum back, and a jump shot from Munro started a 12 – 0 West Herts run that would effectively end the game and series. During this period Komba and Odulaja ran past the Mansfield defence to score in transition, getting fouled in the process, and Tye added another 2 shooting from the wing. Last ditch threes from Sean Dilks, and the Express’s seldom used Swinton were not enough to impact the scoreline significantly, and a basket underneath plus the foul for Tye capped an impressive captain’s haul of 22pts. In the final minute Abrook provided his own showpiece, with a baseline drive passed big Lee English for a two handed slam, and the game ended 70 – 63 to West Herts. A jubilant Warriors team celebrated on the court, and in the changing rooms with a few post game Heinekens. Mansfield were gracious in defeat and displayed great hospitality to the visiting team in the bar afterwards. They wished Warriors well in the final who will no doubt be underdogs against treble seeking Nottingham Knights who despatched Liverpool with ease in their two games. Coach Harrison said afterwards “I’m proud of the team’s effort and focus in these 2 games. After a shaky first game vs Bath, the players have stepped up. We see no reason why we cannot beat Nottingham in the final, as this team has another gear to use. Thanks to Mansfield for 2 great games of basketball, and we hope to match up with them again next season. ” Details of the arrangements for the final can be found at http://www.westhertswarriors.co.uk West Herts Scorers: Craig Tye 22, Tayo Odulaja 13, Sahr Komba 11, Rafe Abrook 10, Luke Patterson 7, Marlon Munro 5, Christiaan ter Steege 2, James Tye, Jock Mackay Mansfield Scorers: Martin Blankley 16, Matt Shaw 15, Jamie McGaffin 10, M Richards 6, L English 6, S Dilks 3, C Swinton 3, M Elland 2, D Murphy 2, T Wade, G Collins, P Chamberlain Express fall at semi final hurdle WNC Mansfield Express 63; West Herts Warriors 70 Play off semi final 2nd leg (Aggregate score: WNC Mansfield Express 138 – West Herts Warriors 158) This was the second leg of the play offs with Express chasing a 13-point deficit from the visit to St Albans the previous weekend. A 13 point win for Express on the night would put the game in to overtime, anything more and Express would be through to the final and anything less and the season was over. A Good crowd had turned up anticipating and expecting a tight encounter; both teams knew what they had to do to ensure a place in the finals at Birmingham. Both sides started a little attentively with Martyn Blankley breaking the deadlock for Express to put them 2-0 up; with quick replies from Rafe Abrook and Craig Tye for the visitors only through Lee English could Express level the score. The game was very tight with both teams making some simple errors early on – the prematch nerves were still with both sets of players, only they could shake them off and prove who was the better team. Matt Shaw score a trademark 3 –pointer; though the opposition were marking him closely and giving him very little room for manoeuvre. Tye and Luke Patterson for the Warriors and English for Express battled to score baskets to level the score at 9-9. Jamie McGaffin wriggled through a resolute Warriors defence to put Express back in the lead only for Tye and Sahr Komba to score to put the visitors back in the lead. Express then opened the scoring floodgates and the warriors could put little in there way to stop them scoring – Shaw with two 3-pointers and Michael Elland and Blankley with 2 points a piece. The score finished 21 –13 Express. At the start of the second quarter the Express supporters though that the home team could do the necessary to win the game by the desired margin. They had not bargained on the resolute and defiant playing skills of the opposition. Tye got 3 baskets in succession to bring the visitors deficit on the night down to 3 points. Shaw and Blankley got on basket each from the line; they were only struggling to convert all their baskets from the line. Marlon Monroe and Patterson managed to pull the score back to 24 – 23 in favour of Express. After a time out by the visitors McGaffin and Martin Richards scored one each from the line; Patterson replied with a 3-pointer to make the game very tight and put the scores level with neither team giving up, as they both knew what was at stake. Blankley scored with a turn and a jump, a quick reply from Abrook only through Richards did Express manage to keep up the explosive pace. After a time out by coach Chris Squire and a few tactical changes to see if the margin could be opened up, though the opposition would not lie down as the score finished 33-31 to Express. The third quarter started scrappily – this could be the make or break for Express. Blankley and English scored for Express only for Tye and Tayo Odulaja to reply for the visitors; with the score at 37-36 to Express. The quarter looked like being a low scoring one, as there was too many turn overs from both sides – had both sets of players gone to sleep as the vociferous crowd would certainly keep the awake as they tried to urge the home team along. The Warriors got back in the lead as Tye had managed to score two successive baskets with only a 3-pointer in reply from Shaw. With the score level at 44-44 each the last basket of the quarter went to Tye with a dunk to put the visitors in the lead 46-44. The final quarter would be the most decisive as to which team had the strength, will power and determination to win this game. Abrook with a basket and Odulaja with 3-pointer and with only a single basket from Blankley, with the score 51 – 46 to the visitors coach Squire had no option but to call a time out. Express then reversed the deficits to turn it round to 53-51 with baskets from Blankley and Mcgaffin. With six minutes left the opposition now had to call a time out – this game was going to be an epic battle by both teams all the way to the end. For anybody who had turned up on Saturday night to watch their 1st game of basketball it will have certainly wetted their appetite for when the season starts again in September. Richards and Abrook traded baskets, but the Komba did all the damage and wrecked any chance Express had of winning this game, he managed to score two points to level the score at 55-55 and then scored another eight without reply, Tye compounded the misery for the home side by adding another two to open up a 10 point lead. Sean Dilks pulled some respectability back for Express with a three pointer only for Tye to do the same at the other end by scoring a basket and getting the extra one from the line as he was fouled in the process. With one and half minutes left coach Squire decided to play some of the college players with Paul Chamberlain and Craig Swinton coming on to court. Swinton scored three points with his first touch of the ball, but the game by this time was beyond redemption at 68-61 to the visitors. Abrook had the last basket for the visitors, but young rising star Dominic Murphy ahd the last basket for the home side to finish the game off 70-63 in favour of West Herts Warriors. Coach Squire commented after the game” what a wonderful season we have had - proving a lot of doubters wrong that we would struggle in this division. The game tonight was won by the better team” Top scorers for Express :- Blankley 16, Shaw 15 and McGaffin 10. For Warriors Tye 22, Komba 13,Abrook and Odulaja 10 w/e 10/04/05
The first leg of this double
header was played away in St Albans. West Herts had been unable to book their
normal venues and a substitute venue at a College was arranged, barely
acceptable, some 4 metres shorter than the Mansfield Leisure centre venue. This
confined court size was to play a significant part in the game result.
McGaffin having returned with
heavy strapping to his ankle and limping heavily, took a cross court pass from
Shaw and hit a sweet 2 pointer. WNC broke down the next attack of Warriors, a
fast transition giving court position to Richards from a Shaw pass, Richards
taking the two point jumper before the defence could reach him. Further points
were added by Shaw from the free throw line, and Lee English with an 8' shot.
Two more lay ups from Ter Steege and Munroe rubbed salt in the wound, Warriors
finishing with a 45-27 lead at half time.
Upon the restart a worked move
saw Richards clear on the right and another Jump shot over the 6'8"Mackay of
West Herts converted the 2 points for Express. Warriors struck back with points
through Patterson, Abrook and Mackay, but the WNC team were at last starting to
show some signs of form and good attacks brought 3 points from Shaun Dilks
battling to play himself in, and 2 points from the line for Michael Elland
closed down the quarter at 69-48 to Warriors. Warriors were unable to match the scoring, only putting points up from Mackay and Odulaja, suddenly the score was only 73-65 to Warriors, a massive clawback by Express, Coach Tony Harrison called a time out trying to stop the West Herts slide. From the restart Warriors threw themselves against the Express defence, taking points through Abrook, Odulaja, Munroe, and Patterson. Recovering and pressing to the final whistle, Blankley again proved resilient scoring from the line twice after fouls, and Gary Collins who had been quiet, scoring a neat 2 and a well taken 3. Shaun Dilks completed a good game for himself with a 3 point score, all these last points being valuable to a team that now has to try and pull it back in the second round. Final score was West Herts Warriors 88- WNC Mansfield Express 75. Coach Chris Squires said "Unbelievable, from playing very badly in the first half and especially the first quarter, the guys battled back into the frame. The second half and especially the last quarter which we won by 8 points was more how we can play. The guys have given themselves a chance of a Championship game, I'd like to see the fans there in numbers to lift us and make it happen."
Top scorers,
Express: Blankley 20, Mcgaffin 15, Shaw 13, Dilks 10 Warriors land first punch in playoff semi, beating Mansfield Express 88 - 75 In game 1 of the 2 leg semi final playoff series clash with Mansfield Express, UH West Herts Warriors were keen to make most of home court advantage and follow up their late season victory over Mansfield with another to set the stage for what is bound to be an exciting deciding match up at Mansfield this weekend. With a full team available, but another change of home court due to the unavailability of the Herts Sports Village again, the game was moved to St Columba’s College in St Albans which was less than ideal in housing Warriors growing fan base, but they managed to squeeze approx 100 supporters in plus some travelling support for Mansfield. Despite the referees baffling curtailing of the now legendary ‘Drum Girl’, the Warriors fans were close enough to the court to make some serious noise. The game began with Warriors pounding the ball inside to centre Christiaan ter Steege who displayed deft footwork to score on a variety of post moves, netting Warriors first 6pts. Despite this, Mansfield’s big man inside, Martin Blankley was having similar success at the other end, only he received less support from team mates, and with Luke Patterson and Sahr Komba joining the scoring party for Warriors a lead quickly grew. With Coach Harrison employing long limbed 6’5 forward Marlon Munro on the Express star point guard, Matt Shaw control of the game remained firmly with West Herts, as Warriors defenders rotated quickly to help Munro on the rare occasions he got beat off the dribble. This was something lacking in the match up vs Bath, and the results showed on the scoreboard as Warriors ended the first quarter up 26 – 12. Momentum was not lost at the start of the second quarter, and more scores from ter Steege and Patterson who could not miss, followed thereafter. With the 6’8 Rafe Abrook coming on for ter Steege the ball continued to be fed inside and 2 post moves in the quarter for Abrook helped stretch the lead to 39 – 19. Reserve point guard James Tye was unfortunate to receive a sharp elbow while reaching for the ball and ended up requiring courtside stitches in order to continue, but this did not detract from the Warriors effort. Swarming Warriors defence and further scores from Munro, ter Steege and Tayo Odulaja ended the half with West Herts on top 45 – 27, with Blankley providing the only real resistance for Express thus far in the game. If Warriors have been accused of taking their foot off the gas at halftime when up big before, they didn’t do so on this occasion and a 12 – 2 run for them swelled the lead up to 57 – 29 before the first of would become many Mansfield three pointers fell through for Jamie McGaffin. Odulaja and ter Steege were again proving dominant, and with a three pointer from Patterson and lay ups for Jock Mackay and Abrook the scoreline was kept to 69 – 41, before Abrook had to hit the bench after picking up his fourth foul. A mini resurgence for Mansfield followed through a three pointer from Dilks, and 4 Express free throws, but the quarter ended with Warriors comfortably up 69 – 48. After early scored from Mackay and Odulaja, things went into meltdown for West Herts and Express began to attack from the perimeter, hitting 3 threes as part of a 17 – 0 run over a 5 minute spell that saw the scoreline get as close as 75 – 65. Abrook came back on to end the drought, and a three from Odulaja, plus a drive from Munro opened daylight for Warriors again and despite two more late minute threes for Express the score ended up 88 – 75. Patterson again had a superb game against Mansfield and finished the game with a season high 21pts. Warriors can not relax though as they must face a determined Mansfield team away for the deciding game this Saturday. Express proved they can score in bunches, and with such a high prize at stake, both teams will leave everything on the court for sure. West Herts Scorers: Luke Patterson 21, Tayo Odulaja 16, Christiaan ter Steege 14, Rafe Abrook 12, Sahr Komba 9, Jock Mackay 8, Marlon Munro 6, Craig Tye 2, James Tye, Martin Dyke Mansfield Scorers: Martin Blankley 20, Jamie McGaffin 15, Matt Shaw 13, S Dilks 10, M Richards 6, G Collins 5, L English 3, M Elland 3, T Wade w/e 03/04/05 Big Final Quarter Saves Playoff Blushes for West Herts - Warriors 70 – Team Bath 63 In getting the first round draw they had hoped for, UH West Herts Warriors were expectant of nothing short of victory against Team Bath Romans who they had defeated fairly comfortably twice during the regular season. However playoff basketball has a habit of bringing the best out of the underdog teams, and faced with a straight forward knockout scenario, Bath would come out fighting in this one. Working against Warriors, however was the unavailability of their regular home court at the Herts Sports Village, so an alternate venue was sourced at Hemel Sports Centre, which despite a strong home crowd turnout, felt like an away fixture for the home team who had not had the benefit of at least a practice on their temporary home. Lagomarsino opened up the scoring off the tip for Bath, before Warriors point guard Luke Patterson replied with a jump shot. Bath then caught Warriors on the first of many back door plays for a 2 in response, before Rafe Abrook tied the scores with a baby hook from the low block. A three point play from Odulaja followed and shortly afterwards Christiaan ter Steege pulled down a big offensive rebound for the putback, and another fast break conversion for Abrook of the Odulaja feed put West Herts up 11 – 7. Gerry Armstrong’s first 2 pts of the game were followed by a rare ‘bail out’ three point make for Abrook as the shot clock expired. Despite a fast break slam off the steal from Odulaja, the last 3 mins of the quarter were all Bath as they got to the free throw line to convert courtesy of sloppy West Herts defence. The quarter ended 17-16 to Bath. Odulaja scored the first 4ts of the second quarter, and supported by a basket from Marlon Munro was able to put Warriors back on top 22-17, but the ball was not moving around on offence with the ease it was against Hackney, partly due to a resilient zone defence that Bath had employed to take away the one on one mismatches available to West Herts. Despite a made free throw from ter Steege, more Bath free throws and the first of 4 threes from Roman’s bench player Bishop gave Bath the lead back and another score for Munro plus a three point play from Patterson, could only level the scores at the half time interval at 28 a piece. A positive start to the third quarter for Warriors saw Odulaja score 7pts in a three minute spell that put the home side up 37 – 30, aided by a turnaround jump shot by ter Steege. Unfortunately this would then lead to a dry spell on offence and with Bishop hitting 2 more threes and Dave Roper and Armstrong getting scoring from inside and out, Bath rattled off an 26 - 6 run that extended into the fourth quarter and threatened to put an abrupt end to Warriors season. Early in the fourth, frustrations erupted for Abrook who after being manhandled several times in the post off the ball, then lashed out at Roper and picked up the unsportsmanlike foul. This seemingly flicked a switch on, and on the next fast break offence, Jock Mackay bounce passed to the cutting Abrook who finished with a big 2 handed slam to get the crowd back into the game. The team fed off the crowd’s energy and the defence was picked up. As a result Patterson, Odulaja and Munro hounded the Roman’s backcourt and forced bad passes and tough shots. Munro crashed the offensive boards, tipping in his own misses, and Odulaja got to the foul line amazingly getting the score back to 60 each. With Jim Bragan getting open inside for an easy 2 off the Roper pass, Mackay then responded with a drive, basket and foul to put Warriors up for the first time since early in the third quarter. After another defensive stop Warriors switched the ball to the weak side to give Sahr Komba a one on one against Roper which he took advantage of for the lay in. Following another defensive sequence, Mackay tipped in a miss to put Warriors up 66 – 62 with less than a minute to play. Free throws and a final basket from Odulaja sealed the win at 70 – 63 following an impressive 21 – 2 run that couldn’t have come at a more important stage of the season. Warriors now face second place finishers, Mansfield Express in the semi finals with the first leg being played at home this Saturday. Unfortunately with the Sports Village still unavailable, the game will be played at St Columba’s College in St Albans instead with an earlier tip time of 6pm. The return leg will be the following Saturday up in Mansfield. Warriors know they must play a lot better to beat Mansfield over 2 games, although they will take heart from a recent away win at Mansfield which was one of their better team performances of the season. West Herts Scorers: Tayo Odulaja 23, Marlon Munro 12, Rafe Abrook 9, Luke Patterson 9, Sahr Komba 6, Christiaan ter Steege 5, Jock Mackay 4, Craig Tye 2, James Tye, Martin Dyke Bath Scorers: G Armstrong 19, R Bishop 15, J Lagomarsino 9, D Roper 7, J Bragan 5, N Wookey 4, M Analts 4 Third quarter romp enough to see Knights throughThe Nottingham Knights are through to the semi-finals of the Play-Offs following a 19-point victory over Colchester United. The Play-Offs are without doubt the most exciting part of any season with eight teams vying for some final glory from a very long season. The Nottingham Knights have been strong all season, winning the league by 6-points and taking the Patron’s Cup in thrilling double-overtime. They enter the Play-Offs seeded first and as the team to beat. Colchester finished eighth in the league and came to Eastwood hoping to be the team to de-throne the all-conquering Knights. After a short delay to the start, the game was slow to get going. Dave Passmore won the tip, only for it to be stolen by Colchester. An offensive rebound by Ben Middleton sent Rani Malik down the court to start the scoring for the Knights. Middleton then made a great drive to the basket to increase the Knights lead. Baskets were traded by both teams before Colchester lit up from behind the line and started knocking down their threes to creep in to the lead. The Knights offence was slow, and very readable, Colchester kept stealing the ball from lazy passes and were it not for Passmore’s defensive blocks, the game might have taken a different path. As it was, Colchester were up by 4 with 40 seconds left on the clock. Another block by Passmore sent Johnston away for three before a Sam Attah steal handed the ball to Rani for a buzzer beating two and hand the lead back to the Knights 17-16. The second quarter was dreadful from a Knights point of view. They were sloppy on defence and struggled to finish their offensive plays. As a result, Colchester went on 8-0 run. Bruce Lauder was rebounding well at both ends and calmly sunk his free throws to give the Knights their first points of the quarter, but still the gaps were showing in the Knights defence and Colchester took advantage and built up a ten-point lead. Sensing the biggest upset of the tournament, Colchester carried on pressing but the Knights stepped up on defence. Fine rebounding by Dwight Davies and Sam Attah sent the Knights to the races, but they held back and didn’t take their chances when they were presented. With two-minutes left in the half, the Knights were trailing by 10. Passmore then stormed to the basket, getting fouled on his way. Converting his ‘and 1’ the Knights got fired up and started to play the basketball they are capable of. Bud Johnston and Davis were passing the ball fluidly to each other and creating some great baskets. With 30 second left, the Knights were still trailing by 6. A steal by Williamz Omope sent Johnston off for a long three, before a further rebound by Attah sent Johnston off again and another three on the buzzer to tie the game at 33-33. The Knights had pulled it back, but were by no means in control of the game. Coach Mike Griffith was furious with his players, as they showed no heart or will to win. The third quarter was to prove crucial to the result of the game. The Knights came out and showed why they are the double champions. They were excellent, defence stopped any Colchester offence and the Knights were passing the ball around the entire team before some great baskets saw the Knights storm into a 10-point lead. A Colchester time-out did nothing for the team as the Knights continued their championship winning performance. Attah, Johnston and Malik were ripping holes in the Colchester defence and Passmore was blocking anything that Colchester threw up. On a 20-0 run, it looked like Colchester were going to score their first points of the half before the smallest guy on the court – Rani Malik – blocked the biggest guy on the Colchester team to deny them two-points. He then collected the ball and sent Omope away for another two. A lapse in concentration on defence let Colchester through in the dying seconds of the quarter and a 31-0 run came to an end, but so did the Colchester challenge. The players left the court, with the Knights up 56-35. The final quarter saw the Knights relax; they had done enough to secure the win and started to enjoy the game without pushing themselves too hard and risking injuries. Baskets were traded but the Knights never looked out of control. With the game as good as won, Manager Tony Griffith stepped on to the court as he promised he would. He grafted hard on defence and provided some good passes to Omope and Malik for some easy baskets. As Colchester began to tire, the gaps opened up and Tony ensured his name was added to the score sheet with a well taken two. Aubrey Dube came back on court to control the ball while Lauder and Middleton continued their fine rebounding form. A long-range three from Omope finished the game and sent the Knights into the semi-final 75-56. Top scorers: Johnston 25; Attah 18; Malik 12 EBL Division 2 – Quarter Final Play off WNC Mansfield Express 94 Leicester Warriors 81 After a 3-week break, basketball returned to Mansfield with the visit of Leicester Warriors who finished seventh in the league. The game was not going to be considered easy by Coach Squire and the players, this was most probably the best prepared team Mansfield had ever seen play basketball. The game had to live up to all the pre match hype with Express having a 2-0 advantage over the visitors beating them convincingly home and away. The game didn’t start too well for Express as Tom Fowler scored the first basket for the visitors. Jamie McGaffin who was celebrating his 21st birthday then levelled the score with a back door cut. Dave Greenaway for the Warriors (formerly of Express) and Martyn Blankley both traded baskets, then Gary Collins and Fowler battled to put the score at 6-6. With both teams a little apprehensive in the first few minutes of the game – one team had to turn up the intensity and this was Express, McGaffin followed by a 3-pointer from Michael Elland and another two from Blankley, this gave Express a 13-6 lead. Hilroy Thomas who up to now had been quiet scored two and added an extra one from the line as he was fouled in the process of scoring. This had only made Express more resilient with baskets from Elland, Blankley, Collins and a superb solo effort from Matt Shaw – straight down the line to enable Express to open up a 21-9 lead. Thomas pulled two points back for the visitors right on the allotted 24 seconds. Blankley then scored the best basket of the quarter as he scored an uncharacteristic 3 pointer – to the amazement of the home crowd and the score finished 29-13 to Express. The second quarter was packed full of incident and controversy. Drew Barrett, Luke Morris and Thomas scored early on for Leicester, with Blankley replying for Express. Shaw then scored two from the line as he was fouled by Chris Wright – who had already allotted 3 personal fouls, fouled him. Shaw then had a second chance to score from the line as a technical foul was issued against Thomas much to the pleasure of the partisan home crowd. With the score at 35- 19 to Express Blankley, McGaffin and Shaw were trading baskets with Thomas. Blankley gained an extra one from the line as a technical foul was issued against coach Dick Barrett. Blankley, Collins and Shaw added to the tally for Express only through Greenaway, Thomas and Wright did the Warriors keep up with the fast and frenetic pace. The score finished 53-35 to Express. In the third quarter the visitors turned up the pressure and scored through Drew Barrett, Fowler, Greenaway and Wright with only two points in reply from McGaffin. The Warriors had managed to get the deficit back to 10 points – at 55-45. Coach Squire had no option but to call a time out to rally the troops. The pressure was being piled on by the visitors as they managed to reduce the deficit down to 6 points with the score at 60 –54 to Express. The home crowd were getting a little nervous as they saw the lead being diminished all the time – but they knew that the Warriors had already pressed the self destruct button as some of their players were already on 3 or 4 personal fouls. The game got a little scrappy and tense with Blankley and Shaw scoring for Express, but Drew Barrett and Morris managed to get the deficit within 3 points – at 64-61 to Express. Martin Richards came on court after a four-month lay off due to a knee operation to score two but Drew Barrett scored at the other end. Shaw had the final say of the quarter with a tremendous 3 pointer to finish 69 – 63 to Express. If anybody thought the second quarter were full of incidents and controversy this one would better it. Wright opened the scoring for the visitors only for Collins to get two consecutive baskets for Express. Thomas scored two and the Blankley replied with a put back of his own shot. Express had managed to open a nine-point lead, only to find the opposition through Thomas and Morris reduce the lead back to four points. With three and half minutes left to the pleasure of the home crowd Thomas collected his fifth foul and could play no further point in the game. The Warriors coach Dick Barrett was the ejected from the court as he had collected his second technical foul – the referees stopped the game until the coach was out of sight of his team. Blankley and Shaw added to the score for Express only for Greenaway to reply for the visitors. The game had to be stopped again by the referees as they had noticed that Dick Barrett had been trying to coach and signal to his team from the bar that overlooked the court. The officials would not allow play to resume until the coach had been escorted back to the changing room – much to the pleasure and amusement of the home crowd. After all the commotion the game settled down with Collins scoring a three pointer for Express, Drew Barrett replied for the visitors only for Blankley and Shaw to add to the score for Express. Drew Barrett was the next casualty for the Warriors – collecting his fifth foul, not long after this Wright went out the same way; this left the Warriors with four players on court – they only had a team of eight and Dylan Bogg was ineligible to play due to suspension. Last basket of the game went to Sean Dilks – he managed to claim the extra one from the line as he was fouled in the process of scoring. The score finished 94-81 to Express Coach Squire commented after the game ‘the guys on court did really well tonight – they did what was asked of them and more, Collins and Elland playing great defence – hounding the opposition and Blankley, McGaffin and Shaw on the offensive attack. Top Scorers for Express – Martyn Blankley 29, Matt Shaw 22 and Jamie McGaffin 16 Warriors – Hilroy Thomas 20, Chris Wright 17 and Drew Barrett 13.
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