SHARKS ONLY FIRING ON 3 CYLYINDERS

U14 Tournament

5th September 2009, Amaechi Basketball Centre, Manchester

Teams: Sharks, Manchester and Cheshire Jets

Match 1 vs Manchester Reds

Sharks 12 2 15 12 41

Manchester 11 9 16 12 48

The first quarter may well indicate what the 7 week layoff had done to the lads fitness, stamina and team work. It was a tough quarter but they ground out a one point advantage. All seemed well.

The second half was a different story. Mainly because of the amazing number of missed shots, the ball wouldn’t drop. This is illustrated by the fact that that the Sharks didn’t score until there was 2.24 left on the clock. Even so, there was only a 6 point deficit at the end of the half.

The third quarter had the most incidents. It was fast and furious, back and forth. The scoreboard seemed to go awry which meant that the Sharks thought they had closed the gap only for it to mysteriously disappear. Even so the teams were evenly matched, with Manchester only edging it by a point.

The last quarter again was an even contest. With it being a friendly there was no need for the Sharks to go all out for a win.

All in all a very below par performance, but taking everything into account they still matched the opposition and if it wasn’t for the bad quarter may have snatched a win.

Match 2 vs Manchester Blues

Sharks 11 13 6 11 41

Blues 11 15 13 9 48

Perhaps the call for a bit more passion went slightly wrong when the Sharks were in foul trouble in under 3 minutes. Even so, there didn’t seem to be much to trouble the Sharks but again not performing to their best and the foul trouble meant they couldn’t pull away. The quarter points were shared.

Again foul trouble dogged the Sharks and don’t forget they were playing away! Even so they were only down by 2 at half time.

They waited until the third quarter to self destruct. Manchester piled on the points early on and the Sharks were playing catch up.

The last quarter showed a bit of the excellent play that the Sharks can do as they won the quarter, but again as the emphasis was on this being a friendly and giving the whole squad court time, there wasn’t a great deal of need or motivation to chase the game. Again one poor quarter their downfall.

Match 3 vs Cheshire Jets

Sharks 12 10 11 6 39

Jets 13 11 15 17 56

The Jets seemed to be the team on form this afternoon and stormed off to a quick lead in the first quarter. The Sharks still showed their resilience though and fought back to be only one point behind.

The second quarter was in a similar vein as a tit for tat quarter saw the Sharks again only lose by 1.

The second half was a different story. To be honest 3 matches in an afternoon and the lack of practice etc took its toll, injuries, cramp and tiredness took over and it looked as though the Sharks just played the game out so they could all get over the Pennines as quickly as possible.

Summary

No a great day out but it shows the Sharks can hold their own when they are not at their best and it should give them the focus and a kick up the behind. At least they realise that you have to work hard to stay the best and it all starts again with everyone on zero points in a few weeks time.

It will be interesting to see how they respond in the next set of friendlies in 2 weeks.

Squad

Marko Backovic , Eddy Brownell, Michael Carnall, Conor D’Souza Kelly, Connor Dixon, David Frost , Tyler Gayle , Daniel Jenkinson , Montel Jordan, George Naylor, Kenneth Nwose, Marcus Welsh.