Erks 76 Lakers 62
Copyright 2001 Kieran Galvin
Recovering from injury, Wes Fortt had a particularly eventful game.
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Erks opened their Essex Met campaign with a comfortable victory over the
Lakers. After a few years of entering 2 teams in the Essex Met League this
years sole Erks team will be a mixture of grizzled veterans like Dave
Bromfield, Lee Atkinson and Peter Horrell, young talent like Irfan Hussain,
Wes Fortt and John Sargent and inside players like "Fun" Ed Bailey and
Richard "Chims" Williams who are used to sitting on the bench watching
clumsy oafs like Dave Churches log up big minutes.
From the outset the Erks looked sharp at the offensive end and relished the
slower pace of the local league game, particular as most of the squad
trained the previous Thursday at a session which bordered on the
masochistic. Dela Agbolegbe looked particularly sharp, slicing through the
Lakers D for 7 first quarter points, despite being matched up against his
flatmate Pat Cann at the defensive end. Dela won that battle decisively, as
Pat joined Wes Fortt in the "more fouls than points" club with a 0 point, 3
foul, 5 backboard slap night.
A 26-17 first quarter lead was improved to a 43-31 halftime lead on the back
of a balanced if somewhat predictable offensive performance. Lee Atkinson
with 8 points from 4 jump shots, Ed Bailey with 7 points from 3 jump shots
and a free-throw and Chims with 7 points from 2 jump shots and a rare
three-point play after Dave Bromfield ran out of other options on the break,
all took advantage of the Lakers stepping off the Erkenwald shooters.
With Coach Bromfield stressing the need for structure at the offensive end,
it was no surprise to see the Erks start the 3rd quarter with a succession
of turnovers as the guards drove at the defensive at every opportunity.
However, with Ed Bailey freed from Charles Brandon's pocket at the defensive
end by an astute switch to zone defense, the Lakers went 4 minutes without a
basket. Erks took advantage with their best spell of the night, John Sargent
scoring 6 straight points as he attacked the hoop aggressively and actually
received a pass from Ed Bailey on a give and go.
With a 20 point lead at that stage, the game was as good as over, and
although the Lakers stepped up their defense, hounding Wes Fortt into 5
minute spell where he had 3 turnovers, 4 fouls and had his shot so viciously
rejected that the word "Baden" is now imprinted on the back wall. Dela
Agbolegbe kept the Erks ticking over, utilising the new range on his
jumpshot (he's now inconsistent from much further out) by swishing a couple
of treys and with Lee Atkinson more predictably hitting a couple of long
range efforts, the Erks cruised home with sufficient margin for Ed Bailey to
hit the ugliest 3 of the season so far on the buzzer.
Dave Bromfield coached a masterful game ensuring decent court time for all
players and resisting the urge to call any set inbounds plays and Hungry
Pete Horrell made a first playing appearance of the season (as webmaster he
appears to be excused training) playing exclusively inside due to the Erks
glut of guards, clocking up a few rebounds, head-fakes, but no shots. Irfan
Hussain also proved that he is more of an NBL player now, as he followed up
his 24 point game against Oxford by being outscored by offensive powerhouse
Chims.
SCORERS:
Ed 20, Dela 16, Lee 13, John 10, Chims 7, Irfan 6, Wes 4, Bromfield,
Horrell.
Report posted: 10/10/01
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