Hard fought victory keeps momentum going

Intra club matches always seem to carry a lot of pressure and intensity. Players know each others' strengths and weaknesses well and there always feels like more is riding on it than on any other league game of the season. This match was no different and carried added pressure as the 1sts looked to avoid back-to-back defeats to the 2nds despite holding a much superior league position.

It's fair to say that defence largely came out on top throughout this one. It was a hugely physical contest battled between two sides giving everything and virtually every shot was heavily contested. On the whole though, even though both teams contained numerous talented scorers, nobody managed to get into their groove. Quite shockingly, only one player reached double digits and that was the stand-out player of the game, Andy Forsyth. He brought his usual blend of huge defence and outstanding work on the boards and combined it with some real spells of dominance inside to which the 1st bigs had no answer, but maybe slightly unfairly, he also found his 3-point stroke. Particularly notable with a buzzer beater at the end of the first which opened a small gap between the teams that was never really threatened.

The 1sts will go away and lick their wounds knowing that they are guaranteed playoff basketball come the end of the season. The last time we played, it sparked an outstanding run of form in the league and maybe they can find that form again. The 2nds are now in a huge battle to make up for all their close-match losses earlier in the season and try to sneak into the playoff positions. This win, along with the Mavs one last week will do no harm at all.

Top scorers:
2nd: Andy F 12, Ewan 9, Theo 6
1sts: Zak 7, Jamie L 6, Terrence 5