Sheffield Saints vs Manchester Magic

Amaechi Basketball Centre, Manchester
21st January 2012, 12.30pm

Saints 11 6 15 20 52
Magic 17 17 21 13 68

As Saints faced up to their old adversaries would this be the match that broke the mould, would they go that little bit extra and topple the leaders, well maybe not.

It was quite obvious that both sides knew this was a crucial game and both were “up for it” as Eddy, Marcus Connor, Marko and Kenneth took to the court. Saints were soon 4-0 up as Marko and Kenneth converted. Magic battled but another Marko basket and a one from two meant after 6 minutes it was a one point ball game in Magic’s favour. Magic had a 6 point surge but a trey from Josh brought it back to 14-10 and the Saints were keeping with the opposition. A very untimely (from Saints point of view) trey from Magic gave them a 6 point lead after Q1 but still anyone’s game.

A basket from Kenneth closed the gap at the start of Q2 and then the worst case scenario hit the Saints in the proverbial stomach. A combination of tough, hard defence, relentless pressure and Saints turnovers handed the game to Magic. First of all a 9-0 run open up a gap and then the Saints could not get near their opponents basket. Their only rewards came from 4 visits to the charity line with Marcus getting three from four and George getting a one from two. Meanwhile Magic were relentless. At 34-17 the Saints were in shock.

Two quick treys from Manchester rubbed salt into the wound before the Saints finally relaxed and found their rhythm. Statistically from here to the end of the game they won 35-22 but there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes to consider. As they hit their stride we saw 6 of the players starting to add to the score; these were Kenneth, Marko, George, Tyler, Josh and Connor. Defensively things had started to become tighter and maybe they were starting to enjoy their basketball?

At the start of Q4 Josh, George, Connor, Marko and Tyler carried on from where they left off with George bagging a brace of baskets before a 5 for 5 swap occurred. The new entrants include Matteo and Montell. There had been some discussion about whether or not shooting from the outside could have been a way to attack the Magic brick like defence. Well treys from Matteo, David and Eddy suggested maybe? With Marcus still camping at the free throw line and more incisive shooting from Matteo it was a buoyant Saints who took the quarter 20-13.

Yes, Manchester are good, but when the Saints relaxed into their game they played better. Lots of lessons learnt and hopefully there will be a next time this season?

Team and scorers

Marko Backovic (9), Matteo Murriero (8), George Naylor (7), Marcus Welsh (6), Kenneth Nwose (6), Josh Edwards (4), Connor Dixon (4), David Frost (3), Eddy Brownell (3), Tyler Gayle (2), Montell Gordon