Wessex Men’s Division 3 League
Yateley Silverbacks 3s 61 – Aztec Falcons 46
(15-9; 22-13; 13-6; 11-18)
Leading scorers:
Matt Blowfield 11; Matt Sawyer 9; Ollie Horne 8
Match summary:
The Falcons lost, but there were a great many positives to come out of this defeat. Youngsters Jack Parker and Ollie Horne played very well in the last period, Jack putting in a terrific defensive effort, Ollie driving to the basket and both of them drawing fouls in the paint. Matts Sawyer and Blowfield had good offensive contributions and Tony Upfold had a controlled game getting as many points as fouls!
Key stats:
The foul count (19) was as low as it has been all season, although the foul shooting (11 from 25) still needs to be better. Once again the time either side of the mid-game break killed the Falcons. From 22-18 down in the second quarter the interval showed a 37-22 lead for the Silverbacks, and within 5 minutes of the re-start that became 46-22. This 24-4 spell was what saw the Yateley 3rdteam home. Time for a timely time-out; the Falcons switched defence and created better offensive looks and finished the last 14 minutes of the game with a 15-24 spell.
Coach Walker’s assessment:
This was another very even game; apart from the middle 10 minutes the score was 37-42 to the Falcons. We experimented with some significant changes to the defensive set-up, with several new ideas being incorporated into the play, and the result was some great defence and the flow of points conceded was greatly reduced. Several players began to show what they can do and once again this was a very encouraging performance. Becky Wellington again led the team in communication whilst contributing at both ends. Tony Upfold had some great chances to get close to double figures and Justin Hopley rolled back the years with an outrageous look-away pass that gave Matt Blowfield an easy score underneath. The way forward is to see more players at training.
Next game:
Tuesday 6thMarch 2018 at 7.30pm at home to Woking Blackhawks.
Leave a Comment