Coach Dave Churches made the decision to be the first sub knowing that their formidable opponents always got off to a quick start, thus being excluded from blame for Erks trailing 21-0 in the first eight minutes! The Sledgehammers were rampant, much to the enjoyment of Mr Phillip Cooper who had made the long trip to watch his team-mates but had forgotten to bring his boots.

John 'eggshape" Powell eventually got Erks on the scoreboard netting 6 of Erks 8 first quarter points.

The Erks managed to regain their composure and started to match their opponents; Guards Broms & "Baby Broms" worked tirelessly to stop the outside shooting threat while Jon Lee, Church, JP & Herdy took over the paint. At the half, the visitors trailed 39-24.

Watching the match you wouldn't think Sledgehammers hadn't lost an Essex league match for over two years as the Erks won the 3rd quarter easily 25- 13 and continued to pressure the home team into the last quarter. Erks were down 3 with a minute remaining and then, much to the dismay of the visitors, the referee made some unexpected calls that favoured the home team who held on for the win.

The long journey home was made worse by five of the players complaining about the lack of space. JP seemed happy, explaining he had once managed to squeeze into a mini-metro with a lot more people and gear onboard!!

Erks scorers:
Church 35, Herdy 13, JP 10, Jon Lee 8, Baby Broms, Gareth 6, Old Broms 0

Report posted: 01/12/04