From the first minute when Martin Fowler lookalike Mark Denchfield hit the first of 5 treys, the Erks were in command, as they opened up a 21-4 advantage and never looked back. Only a persistant performance from new Cardinals centre Filby, who bullied his near identical twin Ed Bailey around the hoop for 16 points ensured Cardinals passed the 30 point mark late on. The Erks defensive pressure on ageing shooter Eric Andrews and the shot-blocking of Dave Churches and Martin Overare proved too much for the Cardinals, for whom captain Henderson Gabriel and number 14 Dornfield both went scoreless despite launching a succession of pull up jump shots.

For the Erks, Churches dominated around the hoop against veteran Cardinals forward John Brodholt, who appeared to have aged in dog years in the off season, and Martin Overare scored his usual tally of lay-ups and off balance bank shots. Gareth Sims also went strong to the rim for 9 points, confusing several Cardinals who marked his left hand assuming that he was Broms and Steve "Meatloaf" Carter produced a succession of flashy moves to the hoop, a couple of which he actually finished successfully.

Once the Erks went into halftime with a 43-16 lead, the game was over as a contest, but enough time remained for Churches & Bailey to humiliate themselves with attempted dunks that barely even got above the rim and for Martin Overare to put up 15 shots in the last 5 minutes, narrowly missing out on Garbage Time Dave Churches' club record set some years ago in Hull, where the Erks centre single handedly cut the Erks deficit from 40 points to 25 with a virtuoso display of shooting, rebounding, shot-blocking and floor running that Hull centre Basildon Bond must still have nightmares about to this day, such was his unimpeded view of events from the bench, where he was sitting with the rest of Hull's starters.

Erks scorers:
Denchfield 19, Churches 16, Overare 14, Sims 9, Atkinson 7, Carter 4, Bailey 4, Agbolegbe 4, Herd 2, Williams.

Cardinals:
Buggles 16, Andrew 13, Olaiva 4, Brodholt 4, Gabriel, Dornfield.

Report posted: 25/10/04