[12 NOV 09] CRUSADER NEWS

 Taunton Match Preview

Taunton Tigers vs. Coventry Crusaders

Venue: Wellsprings Leisure Centre Cheddon Rd, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 7QP

When: Saturday 14^th November 2009

Tip Off: 6:30pm

Competition: EBL Division One

 By Adam Manning

Coventry boss Scott Neely hopes to welcome two players back in to action at Taunton as he looks for an improved performance following last week’s poor first half showing at Derby.

Will Bastin and Joe Francombe will be available for selection after they missed last week’s defeat, while Tim Donaldson is currently injured and is expected to return against Reading next week.

Coventry will want to inflict some of their own glory upon Taunton after the previous meeting resulted in the opposition claiming a fatal two pointer seconds from the buzzer to snatch a 90-89 victory at the Sports Centre.

One man who will be looking to continue his scintillating form in front of the basket is Stephen Danso, who contributed 19 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter against Derby last week.

Neely said:  “He has brought much to the team in a few areas: attacking the basket which has led to drawing fouls or scoring and his passion for the game and desire to improve. Helping Stephen as well as each team member maximise their contribution is an ongoing process throughout the season”.

Reflecting upon the side’s last game, the head coach felt that his side didn’t turn up for the first half of the match, and by then the result was all but decided.

“We began poorly with three straight turnovers so I was disappointed with the teams focus at the beginning of the match” he said.

“Derby were ready to take advantage of those mistakes and made us pay for it at the other end. This set the tone for the 1st half and we struggled to regain our focus”.

The Crusaders responded to Derby’s onslaught ,with Coventry 29 points behind at one point, by going on an eight point run towards the end of the third which set up Danso to persistently terrorise Derby’s usually tight defence, which had shipped a gamely average of 65 points before hand.

He continued: “In the 2nd half the team started knocking down some shots and Stephen in particular came out really aggressive and helped reenergize the team. Our defensive intensity did pick up and get some steals leading to easy transition baskets but we were too far down and the comeback came too late. Full credit to Derby as they were the more aggressive team overall and hit a high percentage of their attempts”.

Recent Form:

Taunton come into the game off the back of a weekend  of mixed fortunes, having claimed their first league win of the season on Saturday 91-69 at home to London Leopards, before travelling to local rivals Bristol the following day to lose out 81-79 in the National Cup Third Round.

The Tigers have played nine so far, winning six and losing three, scoring an average of four points more than the opposition per game. Whereas the Crusaders have so far played seven, losing seven, and on average score seven points less than the opponent per game.

Head to Head: The sides have met six times in the past, with Taunton winning four times compared to Coventry’s two. The last meeting saw the Tigers come from behind in the dying seconds, with Joe Andrews pouncing on a slip from John Olinger to convert the vital two point advantage which effectively dashed Crusaders’ hopes of progression to the National Trophy Quarter Finals for another year. The last time Coventry beat Taunton was in the West Country in February that saw a remarkable 20 point come back from Neely’s side who recorded an 84-87 score line  to win their third straight game.

Top 3 Scorers this season:

Coventry	Pts	Derby	Pts
John Olinger (c)	164	S.Clifford	120
Stephen Danso	105	C.Page	84
Dave Edden	64	P.Yabsley	69

 

Crusaders team to face Taunton: 4 Joe Francombe (guard); 5 John Olinger (c) (guard);

 8 Will Bastin (guard); 9 Dan Taylor (guard/forward);

10 Simon Payne (guard/forward); 11 Stephen Danso (guard); 12 Dave Edden (forward);

13 Ryann Samuel (forward); 14 Kane Hudson (guard).

                         

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