Category: Press Report

Hat trick of wins for Trojans!

A hat-trick of victories spurred Tile Hill Trojans on this week, but there was controversy surrounding the Third team game against Rugby Royals, when referee and Warwickshire Chairman Ian Pursglove called time with just over two minutes remaining, following verbal abuse towards him appeared to come from the Royals bench.

The match was poised at 59-57 in favour of Rugby when a volley was delivered resulting in a second technical foul being issued again player/coach Jay Jung and another at the Rugby bench. By now the official had had enough and gave the game 20-0 to the home side.

It was a lot calmer earlier in the week, also at Hereward, when Trojans 2 demolished Nuneaton Predators 84-39 after leading 35-10 at half-time. Five players hit double figures as the Seconds reached their highest score of the season.

But there was a magnificent fight-back at Woodlands for the Club’s First team who found themselves trailing 38-31 at half-time, then they proceeded to pile into Tornadoes 1 and land a massive 63 second-half points to win 93-65 and move clear at the top of division one as Griffins dropped points against Yardley.

Paul Roberts catches fire as Griffins soar past Rage

There was a shooting display to behold in the Handicap Shield this week, as Arden Griffins eased their way into the second round of the competition with a 116-89 victory over Rugby Rage at Tile Cross Academy.

A stunning 43-point performance from long-range specialist Paul Roberts helped the Griffins book their place in the next round, and it was a rapid start from the wily guard – with an opening flourish which immediately had the hosts heading in the right direction.

Roberts netted a stunning six long-range attempts in the opening period, as Arden took a sizeable chunk out of Rugby’s Handicap advantage within the first 10 minutes.

Buoyed by the return from injury of perennial scorer Sam Workman, Griffins didn’t let up in the second quarter either – drawing themselves level by the time the half-time buzzer sounded.

From then on, the result seemed something of a formality, as the hosts continued to pour in the points, notching 34 in the third stanza behind Roberts’ continuing outburst from beyond the arc.

With the Griffins comfortable in their lead, Rugby did all they could to remain in touch, but the reigning league champions simply proved too much for Rage, who couldn’t find a way back – eventually falling to a 27-point loss.

However, it was Roberts’ 11 long-range bombs which proved the ultimate telling point in the fixture – and if it’s a sign of things to come over the course of the second half of the season, it could be a warning sign to those who come up against Arden in the coming weeks.

Griffins edge Trojans in Double OT thriller to blow open title race

It was a game which had everything from jaw-dropping inspirational play to absolute mediocrity, turnovers galore, a disqualification, a technical and an unsportsmanlike foul three players fouled out and to cap it all, double overtime, then, after an eternity, a result which blows the whole league title race wide open.

The situation now sees Trojans still top after their first defeat of the season, with Griffins having lost to the Reds earlier but then coming unstuck against Tornadoes, giving them two losses. ironically, the final game of the regular season sees Trojans go to Arden again and, if they both keep their noses clean between now and then, it will be decided in a mini-league on that one game. Fascinating!

Back to the game itself, which saw a revitalised Richard Onions was in scintillating form early on ,grabbing a superb eleven points in the opening quarter, which closed with just one point between the two sides at 24-23, and had people talking of a hundred perhaps for one or the other – or even both.

But the whole game came down to earth with a bump in the second which amazingly had a score-line of 7-8 in favour of the Hereward visitors, and both guilty of some horrendous turnovers and missed shots. At 31-31 at half-time it was all the play for and Griffins Luke Hatfield was inspirational for his side as they took the lead for the fifth time before Ethan Wade came in strongly to steer the homers into a three-point advantage with the final ten minutes remaining – or so it was thought!

With nothing to choose between them, the pace was boiling up, as was the foul-count and they were neck and neck once more at 55 all, when everything Trojans did went awry as Griffins stole the march to move to 62-55 with three minutes remaining. Phil Roberts landed a two, but then picked up a technical in the dying seconds after Trojans had pulled level again. It was all on this shot from Hatfield, but uncharacteristically, the Arden leading scorer failed and it went to overtime at 62 apiece.

If it was thought to be frantic before, it certainly was now as both tried desperately to get those vital points on the board. And it was Trojans who countered a Hatfield triple to move into the driving seat , but when Scott Owen’s three-pointer was matched by Jerry Sanghera’s brace, they both went back to their respective benches once more at 69-69 for another session.

Onions had already gone to the foul count and was joined on the team bench soon after the resumption by Enoch Kolawole as Trojans lost their inside threat, but, with another superb three from Owen, they took what looked to be a glorious position in the game at 76-72 with less than two on the clock.

A beautiful defence-splitting pass from man-of-the-match Hatfield sent Sanghera in before the Griffins leader made it 76-76 as both sides tried to close out a victory. Timeouts were called by both coaches as the pendulum swung from side to side, before a moment of madness from Trojans’ Ash Dickson saw him disqualified for tripping Dan Opoku who went to the free-throw line at the other end with six seconds left and a big chance to win the game. The first shot missed, but number two went round and round before dropping to the delight of his team-mates and almost sealing the result. That honour was left to Paul Roberts who showed his colleagues how to do it with a pair from the line four seconds later and it was all over.

A total of 49 free shots were taken and 41 fouls called by the officials – 27 of them against Trojans, including five offensive charges, but, believe it or not, it was not a dirty match. Both sides have the greatest of respect for each other and this time, it was Griffins who banked the three points after conceding a 91-76 home loss back in November. This time out, there was no Mark Larner for Trojans and Sam Workman was absent for Griffins. Their
respective clubs will do their utmost to ensure that both are available in 2024 as the pot is beginning to boil already.

Now, can either of them maintain their discipline and keep on the victory trail? Hmm, the plot thickens!

Scorers: Trojans – Jones 0, Limbu 10, Torr 2, Owen 9, Kolawole 5, Roberts 2, Wade 4, Robinson 3, Onions 25, Dickson 16, Murray 0.

Griffins – Sanghera 15, Mirza 6, Opoku 7, Hatfield 31, Roberts 10, Forrest 0, Wood 2, Dawson 8.

Written by Mike Maddox

Ben Clarke helps Tornadoes Blue best Trojans II

Standing at over a foot taller than several of the players in the Trojans 2 ranks, Big Ben Clarke dominated the boards at both ends of the court as Trojans 2 slipped to defeat at Hereward College.

At 6’11”, Clarke is usually more than a handful, but with Trojans missing their starting centre Egis Baliunas, they found the giant Tornadoes player a most intimidating obstacle as they tried to stop him from picking up and converting most of the rebounds he contested.

However, all that aside, they tried their utmost to get on top of their visitors, but turnovers became almost a bigger obstacle for the home side as Clarke and Tornadoes cashed in to lead 16-9 at the first break with all nine of Trojans points coming from outside the arc.

Things did not improve in the second ten either as Tornadoes continued to dominate, picking up the home side’s errors with ease and restricting their hosts to five triples plus one field basket as the teams turned with Tornadoes still well ahead at 30-17.

The second half saw nothing change as Trojans battled, became frustrated and sent the Blues to the line time after time, but the threes kept rolling in and, although the result was not in any doubt, the margin was, but the home side’s brave performance came to an end with Tornadoes, and Big Ben still well in control.

Scorers: Trojans – Singh 10, Gudleikis 5, Ubavicius 3, Zexian 3, Gurung 4, Wagh 8, Eales 2, Barr 0, Linnett 5.

Tornadoes – Capitani 3, Khan 8, Blake 7, Clarke 22, Mann 14, Anjelo 0, Mecit 9.

Trojans up for the Cup!

Trojans 1 coasted through to round two of the Warwickshire Basketball Handicap Cup on the back of an emphatic 79-54 win over a very depleted Tamworth Tigers side at Hereward College.

Tigers travelled to Coventry without their top three scorers from the league encounter seven days earlier and were a pale shadow of the usual Tigers competitiveness. But those who made the trip from Staffordshire put up a brave showing despite having their slender ten-point handicap eroded in the opening quarter.

Once they had their noses in front the hosts eased away and Tigers ran out of steam but kept fighting until the end as Trojans’ sped to victory.

Ash Dickson led for the home side on 22 with Mark Larner making 10 and returning from injury Bhuwan Limbu also just in double figures, while Dan Irving was the visitors’ leader on 13.

One downside from the game was that Trevor Robinson, who turned out for the First Team realised later that he was then cup-tied which prevented him from playing for the Club’s Thirds later in the week against Tornadoes White.

Conceding fifteen to the handicapper, Trojans 3 struggled, for not only were they without leading scorer Robinson, Iain Maxwell missed the game through holiday before 6’10” Costa Mircea and David Sanchez both went down with
illness hours before the game, leaving just seven players to contest the tie.

Always ahead, Tornadoes scraped home despite some frantic play from Trojans, who came to within four points in the dying minutes, and when the final seconds arrived, there were six fouls and three timeouts before Wilson Fabales made things safe for Tornadoes from the line, a perfect 8/8 on the night giving him 19 to compete with Trojans’ Matty Novelskas who led on 20 as Tornadoes won 119-113.

Trojans second team had their game called off when Rugby Rage were not able to secure a court for their fixture which will now be played after Christmas.

Griffins bounce back from shock upset by calming Rage

Reigning Division One champions Arden Griffins bounced back from their shock defeat to Coventry Tornadoes with a much more recognisable 103-89 victory over Rugby Rage.

Griffins, who haven’t quite lived up to their performances from a superb 2022/23 season, got back to business as they welcomed Rugby Rage to Tile Cross Academy.

Still without two of their recognised starters in Sam Workman, who continues to nurse a knee issue, and Paul Roberts, who was unavailable due to work issues, it looked a tough task for the hosts – but in spite of their missing players Arden still came out strong to start the game.

Behind a quickfire 11 points from Dan Mirza, the Griffins cruised to a double-digit advantage after the first 10 minutes, leading 29-19 as the first buzzer sounded.

The second period proved a much tighter affair, with both sides trading baskets – but this time it was Dan Opoku’s turn to hold the scoring mantle for the Griffins, as he notched 12 points of his own to keep Arden ahead with the scores at 51-40 come half-time.

With the hosts holding a solid advantage, things looked to be smooth sailing for the hosts, but for the inspired showing of Rugby’s recent signing Ricky Fennell, who totalled 46 points in the encounter.

The hot-shooting Fennell was doing his damage at the offensive end, but it simply wasn’t proving enough to chip away at the Griffins’ advantage in any meaningful way – as the third ended with Arden maintaining a ten-point lead.

Rugby mounted a late surge in the final stanza, but it didn’t prove enough to cool Arden’s scoring, and the Griffins ran out eventual 103-89 victors.

IT ALL GOES WHITE ON THE NIGHT FOR THIRDS!

Trojans thirds notched their second win in a week with a thirteen point victory over bottom-placed Coventry Tornadoes White.

After going behind in the opening quarter Trojans then struck either side of half-time to notch twenty in each of the periods with big games coming from Trevor Robinson and Iain Maxwell.

Trojans were without their pacemen Sam Coombes and Matty Novelskas, but Maxwell, playing with discipline and Robinson more than made up for this to land 17 points apiece and steer the visitors to Woodlands home.

The battle of the big men went the way of Paul Adams as both the opposing centres, towering at 6’10” apiece fought out their own war with Adams landing 12 to Costa Mircea’s six.

It was a tense game as Tornadoes came back into things, with both officials coming in for some stick at times but Trojans hung on to finish with an good overall performance which brought a smile from acting Coach Andy Dickson, still nursing an injured knee and looking likely to miss the next couple of games at least.

Coventry Tornadoes White 49-62 Tile Hill Trojans 3

Scorers: Tornadoes – Ronchetti 0, Price 0, Knibbs 0, Adams 12, Charley 5, Wong 9, Roberts 3, Perry-Huggins 0, Sherif 1, Unzawa-Baya 0, Fabales 19.

Trojans – Robinson 17, Wang 5, Maxwell 17, Sanchez 8, Park 4, Petrenko 5, Turner 0, Mircea 6

Double defeat for Trojans

GRIZZLIES SINK TEETH INTO TROJANS 2 AT AYLESFORD

Trojans 2 went down 62-50 in a hard-fought contest at Aylesford School as the unbeaten hosts went top of Division Two.

A total of 25 fouls went against Trojans whose physical game also sent Grizzlies to the line 25 times, and it cost the visitors as they sank 17 of their attempts, but, despite all bar one getting on the scoresheet, Trojans had no-one to match the shooting of Grizzlies’ Richard Ingram who led on 25 too.

the game belonged to the hosts, who led at the end of each quarter apart from the final one, but by then the margin stood at fifteen with Grizzlies ahead at 47-32. But a good recovery, saw Trojans get to 54-45 before a JM timeout stopped the rot and normal service resumed.

All round, it was a brave performance from the young Trojans side, but Grizzlies look on course for a trip to Division One on this performance.

Scorers: Trojans – Singh 3, Guleikis 4, Ubavicius 10, Wagh 15, Ibrahim 1, Eales 6, Baliunas 7, Daenan 2, Barr 2, Linnett 0.

Grizzlies – Kular 5, Z Alford 2, Jordan 0, Aldred 0, Valente 19, Satchwell 3, Ingram 25, Atkins 5, Brian 3.

THIRD QUARTER BLUES SINK THREE!

Trojans 3 hit the buffers in the third quarter of their home game against Nuneaton Nomads and as the visitors to Hereward College licked their lips with delight, any hopes of a positive result went out of the window for the Reds.

Not that they had expected anything better after a woeful start saw them fall 9-0 down to Mark Bradbury’s highly-charged squad, but Trojans settled into the game and fought back to 21-27 by half-time.

Two minutes into the second-half and it was all to play for with Nuneaton still ahead, but at 29-25. Then the world collapsed for Trojans as they missed and missed again, and again, but the fired-up Nomads didn’t, as they moved into an unassailable 46-27 advantage.

However, the never-say-die attitude of Trevor Robinson’s veterans saw them take the final quarter 16-7 but they were still a few short as Nuneaton won 57-49.

Scorers: Trojans – Robinson 8, Novelskas 11, Dickson 2, Maxwell 10, Murray 0, Sanchez 5, Petrenko 0, Youssef 5, Mircea 8.

Nomads – Birks 7, Bradbury 3, Klova 8, Deen 0, Ross 13, Zubernis 16, Franklin 2, Baker 0, Stain 6, Lea 2.

TWO GOES INTO THREE – BIG TIME!

The first clash of the season between the two Trojans’ sides in Division Two brought a resounding 88-41 win for the Second team as the Thirds fell to a massive player shortage.

The thirds’ fifteen-man squad was reduced to rubble following a spate of cry-offs, and TH2 cashed in to win handsomely after a fairly even start.

In fact, Two were stunned when Three came back from 9-0 to 11-10, but that was the end of the resistance as Two pressed home their 10 v 6 man advantage to coast from 11-10 to 44-17 by half-time.

It seemed that everyone was missing from the third-team ranks, but those present put up a gallant fight, but it was too much for the injury-riddled veterans who succumbed to the pressure applied by the Seconds who saw the game’s top scorer Audi Gudleikis drop in ten unanswered points as this side threatened to run riot. 44-17 became 58-19 but finally, yes finally the Thirds got something going and the end result probably summed up the difference between the two.

One notable point was the debut of Sophie Daenan in the Seconds squad – the first lady to grace the stage for Trojans since Carol Goldfinch back in the nineties. Sophie topped off her debut with a basket as all bar one player made it onto the score sheet.

Griffins best Defenders in opening night thriller

Division One of the Warwickshire Basketball League got off to a thrilling start, as League and Cup champions Arden Griffins began their campaign with a exhilarating victory over new-boys Yardley Defenders.

The Griffins, coming off an undefeated season in 2022/23 had their mettle tested by the league’s newest entrants, but came away victors in a hard-fought 90-88 win.

The game started in high-scoring fashion, with the Defenders coming out firing and quickly opening up a slender advantage. However, the league champions were buoyed by Luke Hatfield’s quickfire 15-point outburst in the opening quarter to regain the advantage, leading 25-21 as the first buzzer sounded.

There was more joy to be found for Arden ahead of the half-time break, courtesy of more fine scoring at the offensive end. With Yardley doing their utmost to cause them problems, they were left reeling by a run of four consecutive long-range shots before the end of the second stanza to ensure the hosts a healthy 11-point lead.

But it was to be no procession for the veteran Arden side, as Yardley collected themselves in the half-time break and came out with renewed vigour.

Behind the powerhouse Samuel Toluwase, the Defenders looked to upset the Griffins offense and they managed just that as the hosts red-hot shooting cooled, as Yardley themselves began to click at the other end of the court too.

Toluwase’s 25-point haul was helped out by former Griffin Jimmy Hempenstall, who added 17 points over the encounter – and they chipped away at the Griffins’ lead, with the scoreboard at 74-68 with only a single quarter to go.

It was set up to be a grandstand finish, and that’s just what the fixture provided. With the Griffins clinging onto their lead and Yardley battling to overcome it, it was a true thriller at Tile Cross Academy.

But it was Arden who looked to land the killer blow as sharpshooting Paul Roberts caught fire, nailing three long-range daggers to help open up a double-digit lead with mere minutes remaining.

But Yardley were far from beaten, battling away inside as the Griffins offense slowed, and soon the deficit was in touching distance as the clock counted down. Heading into the final minute, Yardley were within five, and Michael Ogunsinmi struck from distance to cut that lead to just two points with less than 24 seconds to play.

The Griffins were rocked, but not to be beaten, as they played out the final seconds in a tense atmosphere and even with them returning empty from a late trip to the charity stripe, they held out to claim their opening day win.

Griffins Head Coach Jack Forrest was delighted to claim the win, albeit in such a tight encounter.

“It was a tough game. We always knew they were going to be a tough opponent. We were a bit rusty, we made a few mistakes and probably held onto the ball too long at times.” He said.

“But overall it was a good team performance, we knocked down our shots when we needed to and ultimately the result is all that matters.

“We want to do the same again as we did last season, we believe we’re the best team in this league when we’re firing on all cylinders, but there are plenty of teams capable of causing us problems and getting a result against us too.

“Tile Hill are always a threat, Yardley are definitely one of them too. We just need to make sure we’re consistent throughout the season, cut out the silly mistakes and we’ll see what we can manage this season.”

Meanwhile, Yardley head coach Terry Cannon was buoyed by his team’s performance on the court in the fixture.

“I think it could have gone either way tonight. We started off really strong, I think after that start we maybe though it might be a bit easy for us but Arden came back strong, hit the shots we know they’re capable of making and we struggled to get back into it right away.

“They managed to keep that gap throughout most of the game before we cut it close at the end but ultimately it wasn’t enough.

“I think we’ve got everything we need to be a really competitive team in this league. We’re new together, so we’re not quite where we need to be just yet, but as the league kicks on we’re likely to progress and hopefully we can do well this season.”

Up next for Arden is a trip to Coventry Tornadoes, whilst Yardley travel to Tamworth as they aim to get their first win of the season over the Tigers.