The second period was a fairly evenly matched affair as the younger Stealers recovered from the earlier enslaught. Their confidence grew as they found some offensive success and five Stealers registered points on the scoreboard in the quarter. For the Erks, veteran forward Steve Herd stepped up with six points while Dave Churches worked hard in the paint for 4. At the half Erks led 43 - 32.

The third period saw a much more aggressive game. The Stealers coach figured that a pressurising full court defense would cause the older Erks a few problems and he was right to a point as it did produce a few Erks turnovers. Clay was the main beneficiary hitting 10 points. Coach McCusker looked to speedy guard Dela Agbolegbe and Adrian Leclair to break the press and the Erks responded with 7 points from Martin Overare and 6 from Mark Denchfield and really did not look too troubled.

Erks started the final quarter leading 63 - 55 and increased their lead again as Mark Denchfield found his three point range. Both teams traded baskets however the visitors were outscored by 10 in the quarter with the final score 88 - 70. Sullivan top scored for the Stealers with a creditable 20 points.

Coach McCusker was pleased with the result but recognised that it wasn't a vintage Erks performance. He said that the Stealers had caused some problems which meant that veteran Lee Atkinson and Robin French didn't get as much court time as he would have liked.

The next game is in February against the Brightlingsea Sledgehammers so hopefully Robin and Lee will see some quality court time then!

Erks scorers:
Denchfield 33, Leclair 16, Churches 15, Overare 14, Herd 10, Atkinson, French, Agbolegbe

Stealers scorers:
Sullivan 20, Clay 15, Predidzius 13, Di Lieto 10, Cook. B, 6, Dexter 4, Purcell 2, Ryan, Cook. P

Report posted: 09/12/05