U14 Pre season tournament – Birmingham 25th July 2009

The Sharks had exactly half of their squad unavailable for this tournament so the remaining 8 players made up the team. At least good court time would be had. Although the teams’ followers had expectancy that they would be victors, they knew that perhaps the margins would not be as comprehensive as a fully blown national league fixture. They were not full matches either.

Match 1 vs Birmingham A’s

Win 31 vs 28

The Sharks recognised some of the players from last year’s City Of Birmingham team and also their big number 5 looked as though he may be a handful. The Sharks main threat came from Tyler who constantly took the direct route to the basket. However the Sharks players were not firing on all cylinders and nothing seemed to drop. It turned into quite a physical game and without full officials it was felt some things were being missed. It ended up being one of the tightest games that the team had played. The Sharks kept creeping into the lead only for the A’s to peg it back to one. However the Sharks know all about defence and digging out a win, which is exactly what they did.

Tyler (10), Marcus (6), Daniel (5), Marko (4), George D (2), Montel (2), Michael (2), George N

Match 2 vs City Of Birmingham

Win 52 vs 17

At 8-4 down again things weren’t going to plan. Then the Sharks woke up. They bagged approximately 30 points without reply and showing great passing and defence. Marko and Marcus gelled with some nice passing, George D was getting some fine baskets, Daniel was leading by example and Montel and Michael were showing what they could do when given court time and George N finally got his reward for persistent play. Tyler was somewhat quieter than the first game but again threw his all into the game. More like it lads, job done.

Marcus (14), Marko (9), George D (9), Daniel (8), Montel (6), Tyler (4), George N (2), Michael

Match 3 vs Coventry Tornadoes

Win 35 vs 12

Unfortunately Coventry had come with an U12 team and the Sharks showed great restraint and played the game in good spirit. The height of Montel caused problems for the Coventry team which sums up the match really as he and Michael had one of their best games for the Sharks.

Montel (8), Michael (7), Marcus (6), George D (6), Tyler (5), George N (3), Marko , Daniel