On Saturday 26 February the BUPA Crusaders will face Plymouth Raiders for the second time in six days.

The Raiders will come to raid - they are struggling to stay within the top four right now and everyone that comes in their path had best be prepared.

They will come with a coach full of supporters which will try to rival the home crowd. It will undoubtedly be the biggest crowd of the season at the Coventry Sports Centre.

Last Sunday the two sides met up with unexpected results. The first half was low scoring, with lots of pressure defence being played by both teams, and both teams missing a dismal number of shots.

At half time the Crusaders had only put 22 points in the basket, but incredibly, were only trailing by three points.

During the second half the Plymouth side managed to pull themselves together and started a scoring spree, while still keeping the pressure defence on the Crusaders and creating turnover after turnover.

The Crusaders did not have enough in them for their second game in less than 24 hours and struggled to put another 18 points up before the final buzzer.

That's the memory the BUPA Crusaders want to exorcise tomorrow night.

They had plenty of scoring opportunities, but the ball would not go in the basket. They played great defence, keeping the Raiders to only 66 points, but without an answering offensive attack, there was nothing to win with.

The main culprit in all of this however, was the number of turnovers Crusaders had. The Crusaders gave the ball to the Raiders 21 times. This is like inviting the opposing team to score at will.

The BUPA Crusaders will be coming out with a debt to pay. They have a great deal of pride to restore. Coming so close to winning the return Worthing game, after losing badly to them earlier in the season, there is no reason why, with the memories still vivid from last weekend, they can not come out and reverse the result against Plymouth.

Coach Dip Donaldson will be turning into Player/Coach on the night. He has put in two brief appearances in games this season, but has yet to make an appearance at home.

Saturday night will be his first home performance since the spring of 1999. Dip's back problems have been cleared by team physiotherapists Andy and Gillian Law, so he should be able to play virtually pain free on the night.

Manny Shareland will also be making an appearance after his game against Plymouth on Sunday impressed Coach Donaldson suitably to include him in the selection.

Colin Rhooms is on the verge of coming back, but just needs a little bit more time, so hopefully next week will see him back in Crusader kit.

It will be a great game. Come along and see for yourself!
  

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