All Photos Copyright 2004 Peter Horrell

Erkenwald moved closer to a place in the last sixteen of the Founders Cup with a hard-fought win over Buckinghamshire side Brunel. After four games the Erks have now won 3 and lost 1 and even if the Erks lose their final game against 2003 finalists Cambridge, the Dagenham side stand a good chance of finishing in the top three positions of their six team group and advancing to the knock-out stages. A victory over Cambridge could leave the Erks top of the group and with a home tie in the knock-out stages after leaders Columbans fell to a surprise defeat against Nene Valley.

The game started brightly with both sides hitting their shots early on, Martin Overare was proving hard to contain around the basket, as he used his leaping skills to pick up offensive rebounds on his way to eight first quarter points. For Brunel big man Harding was proving a thorn in Erkenwald's side early on, with six quick points. Brunel closed the first period with a narrow 20-18 lead, but they quickly hit their stride at the start of the second period, Manley hitting all 3 of his jump shots for the game in little over a minute and point guard Forde following up with two more long range shots as Brunel opened up a twelve point lead. At this point, the Erks were reeling and they needed eight points from hot-shooting John Kimani just to stay in touch. As the second quarter drew to a close, two Declan McCusker free-throws and a 3 point play from Julian Morvan dragged the Erks back to just four points behind, but a buzzer beating 3 pointer from Brunel guard Sorna knocked the Erks back again as Brunel lead 45-38 at the half.

Erks coach McCusker asked for more aggressive defence from his team at half-time, to try to knock Brunel out of their stride and the Erks responded with a 10-2 run to open the 3rd quarter. Once again Kimani was the man hitting the shots for the Erks with nine in the quarter as the Erks kept pace with Brunel. The 3rd quarter closed at 60-57 to the Bucks side, however the Brunel shooters were now struggling as a result of the increased intensity of Erkenwald's defence, the only black cloud for the Erks being mounting foul trouble as a result of the more aggressive approach, seven of Brunel's fifteen third quarter points coming from the free-throw line.

The 4th quarter proved to be a defensive battle with only eight baskets made in the whole quarter, however Julian Morvan made two of them from 3 point range to first give the Erks a lead and then to open a crucial five point lead with under four minutes to play. In between, as the Erks looked to run down the clock and ultimately struggled to get shots off within the allotted twenty four seconds, Paul Hayden proved to be the key player. The 6'6 forward hit 3 big baskets which proved invaluable as defenses were well on top in the final minutes.

Despite the Erks improved defensive display in the second half, Brunel who drop to a record of 2 wins and 2 losses, had ample chance to win the game from the free-throw line, but they could only convert one from eight attempts in the final quarter and were a dismal eleven from twenty eight in the whole game.

Erkenwald's final game is on Sunday 22 February against Cambridge Cougars, and a number of permuatations are still available for the Erks, a win would leave the Erks in 1st or 2nd place meaning a home tie against the 3rd placed team in the London Group or a trip to the Northern Group runners-up, defeat could lead to qualification in 3rd place meaning a trip to the Southern Group winners or if other results don't go the Erks way, could lead to elimination from the competition.

Erks Scorers:
John Kimani 18, Martin Overare 12, Paul Hayden 10, Julian Morvan 10, Steve Herd 8, Chris Olufeso 6, Declan McCusker 4, Dela Agbolegbe 2.

Report posted: 26/01/04