Crusaders Roll On To Playoffs

Coventry Crusaders 54 Rushmoor Mallards Marvels 34 

The Wheelchair Crusaders returned to action this weekend when they travelled to Farnborough to face the Mallards, the out come being that Crusaders recorded there thirteenth win of the season. 

The team played without player coach Paul Claridge who is out with a broken wrist.

This meant a return to the starting five for Carl Leeth who himself is returning from a shoulder injury. 

The game was set to be a heated affair with the new Rushmoor team full of energy and ambition, and they certainly wanted to play.

They started strongly with danger man Bull driving at the heart of the Crusaders defence. 

In comparison the Coventry team did everything right except put the ball in the basket.

Frustration mounted for Crusaders as the score stayed close.

Mallards playing with energy and heart whilst for Crusaders the only player who made any impact was Carl Leeth who netted all 6 of the Crusaders points in the quarter.

As the first half closed Mallards where ahead 17 – 14 and Crusaders needed to look long and hard at their early performance. 

The second half saw a different ball game with the Coventry team showing strong resolution and determination to get the job done.

Justin Gibson and Carl Leeth seemed to be warming up and the baskets started to come.

Team captain Adam Crinage used the break effectively and left the opposition for dead netting 8 points in the 2^nd half. 

The guards were now on song and supplied excellent quality under the basket with Gibson hitting 22 point in the second half. 

Sahial Ahmed ended the game with his first points of the season with 2 very classy shots.

The game ended with the Coventry team romping to a 34-54 victory. 

After the game Coach Claridge said “I was confident that the team could start to perform  after such a poor start, if only for 20 minutes, Its probably enough time for Coventry to dismantle any team in this league”. 

Coach Claridge named Justin Gibson as Crusaders ‘Most Valuable Player’ this time around for his contribution of 22 points. 

Crusaders Scorers Bri Tierney 2, Sho Ayub 4, Sahial Ahmed 4, Adam Crinage 10, Carl Leeth 12, Justin Gibson 22. 

The Crusaders now have 1 game left on April 18^th Away at the Bristol Pirates 2 and are lined up to finish top in the league.

They will attend the league playoffs in May to battle for promotion to the 2^nd Division next season.