Double trouble for the Pirates
by Chris Deacon
Plymouth Raiders 97 (24, 54, 78)
Essex Pirates 65 (21, 34, 47)
Worthing Thunder 86 (10, 33, 54)
Essex Pirates 74 (23, 32, 48)
Plymouth Raiders were first team to visit Southend in the opening game of a frustrating back-to-back weekend for the Essex Pirates.
The men from the coast pulled off a big victory in a game that the Pirates' Head Coach Tim Lewis described as “Very poor from my guys. We didn’t show any desire tonight.” Lewis went on to say “we seem to believe that the season is over now but it isn’t we have games left and it’s disappointing to think that we’ve given up. These boys are the future of this club and they need to act like it.”
The opposing Coach Gavin Love said he was “really happy with the way we [Plymouth] played” and added “no one underperformed; we came out and played them hard in attack and got the win.”
It was a close first quarter with Plymouth edging it 21-24 thanks to 10 points from Anthony Rowe. A run of 13-30 in the second period allowed the Raiders to stretch into a lead that the home team couldn't claw back. The next quarters were slow and the match looked over before the end of the third; 47-78 the score and no way back for the Pirates. The final buzzer went with Evaldas Zabas collecting MVP for 24 points and a series of assists.
Essex Pirates then put up a good fight but couldn't beat Worthing Thunder in their second weekend game in Southend.
Coach Lewis said “We were better today. A couple of people got better and we looked like we wanted to play but it still lacked that consistency that we need to see out games. This weekend has been a poor one.”
The first quarter got off to a flying start with Essex dominating the boards. Zac Gachette and Adrien Sturt helped them break into a 23-10 lead. Worthing fought back in the next period and points from Sharrad Prezzie-Blue and Adam Williams brought them past the Pirates'score; 33-32 by the buzzer.
Five scores from Taner Adu in the third stanza got the home side on their way to an impressive lead going into the final quarter.
It looked like Essex could snatch it but Prezzie-Blue popped up for 10 points whilst Worthing kept the Pirates at bay defensively. At the end, a score of 74-86 brought the curtain down on a frustrating weekend at the Leisure and Tennis Centre.MVP was awarded to Williams who netted 24 points and got some rebounds and assists to back them up.
All three sides have a few games remaining to earn as many points as they can before the season draws to a close. Essex will be looking for some gutsy performances as they face Chester Jets, Leicester Riders and MK Lions on the road before returning home to host Guildford Heat in the final game of the 2010/11 calendar.
